


Out of the Darkness

by YvaJ



Category: Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Greene
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 45,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YvaJ/pseuds/YvaJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the truth of Anton's 'death' emerges, Patty must make some decisions that could ultimately change her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

He lived with a single regret, of course, he was not yet aware of what that happened to be.

For what it was worth, Phil McFee was a practical man. He knew the distinctions between things of importance and flights into the fantasy. He had joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a young man. Upon obtaining this dream job at twenty-five, he was soon filled with ambition and desired nothing more than taking part in cases that would shed the light of heroism on him.

Phil wanted to leave his mark on the world and have everyone know his name. This was a lofty goal for a man who hailed from Atlanta and had taken his first job as a county deputy right out of high school.

Over the years that followed until his appointment at the Bureau, none of his colleagues ever knew of his hopes or dreams, nor did they really care. Phil had managed to cover any form of insecurity with a façade of harsh words and direct questions. Perhaps it was that, which insured him a job working in a federal branch of law enforcement. Anything less than that would have rendered him as being weak, and he did not want to be cast off as a weak man. It was for this reason that anyone, regardless of their age or experience, would be subject to his rather harsh form of interrogation.

It was also no surprise that no other person, not even his first partner, John Pierce, ever knew that he even possessed a softer side. Over the years, he had painstakingly trained himself not ever to show it. “It’s a weakness,” his father had insisted on more than one occasion. These words were an ingrained philosophy that he lived with each and every day.

Phil was a person who had grown to manhood believing that it was a drawback to show compassion, and foolish to let his guard down. He would soon discover after a time that matter-of-fact indifference was the best tool in which to manipulate another person. Of course, there would come a day when this ideology would be put to the ultimate test.

He was 32-years-old when the war ended in 1945. Upon the news of it coming to an end and Nazism being eradicated, the FBI agent had managed to make a life for himself in a cozy corner office on the outskirts of Washington, DC. It was a good life, one that gave him plenty of time to contemplate his past as well as what had happened that had brought him to this particular moment in his life.

He had not seen much of Agent Pierce since the two of them had been sent to Jenkinsville, Arkansas during the late summer of ‘44. Every so often, Pierce would stop by his office and tell him how well he was doing and what promotion he was up for next. It did not seem to faze Pierce in the slightest that Phil had put in a request for a transfer soon after the events had reached their eventual conclusion.

If truth were known, the younger of the two agents had slowly grown tired of his partner's ego, and as soon as his request had been approved, he was able to move on and leave the past where it belonged.

Still, he could never forget the preteen girl that he had met during that fateful summer. She had only been twelve at the time, and yet she knew exactly what she had done and accepted responsibility for it. Given his experiences with adults, he knew very few who could profess to having done the same. Today, he wondered where she was and what she was doing. She had, no doubt left the reform school and returned home once her sentence had been carried out.

To Phil, Patricia Ann Bergen’s release would mark the closure of that particular chapter and he could cease reading small town newspapers and move on to something more interesting. Of course, this had proven to be much easier than he anticipated because there were always stories of spies and traitors filtering about, especially during wartime. 

The years would pass and the news would change from escaped prisoners to a war ending victoriously for his country. Soon after Hitler’s death, the German prisoners would be released and sent back to the war torn nation of their birth.

It was now time for all of them to let go.

Although Phil would never have admitted it, the events had proven to be a blessing in disguise, because now he was no longer directly linked to John Pierce.

Phil liked his former partner about as much as he liked getting a root canal. Perhaps the underlying truth was that the two men were more alike than either of them was willing to admit. “I want to retire from this penny ante stuff and do real American work,” his former partner had often complained when they had been working together.

Phil interpreted these words as a desire to quit the Bureau and go to work for the Secret Service. Instead of taking Pierce’s words seriously, Phil had cast them off as the words of an over-ambitious agent.

The day Phil’s past would come back to haunt him was a day he would never forget. It was as though he had stepped into a time machine and was hurled back to that fateful day in 1944 when they had appeared at the home of Harry and Pearl Bergen in order to interrogate their twelve-year-old daughter.

~~~January 1950~~~

The sky outside the window of Phil’s office had gone from blue to gray in the matter of hours. Fog had descended all around DC. and it was clear that that winter had turned out to be much colder than normal. He tapped a pen impatiently against his desk as he looked down at several of the documents that he had been given to sign.

He had completed another case, and was now sitting in the office and filing the necessary paperwork with the Bureau. This was the most uninteresting part of his job, but it had proven to be a great necessity nonetheless. After all, much of the paperwork involving former cases somehow enabled him to solve present day ones.

As he affixed his signature to the final document, the sound of someone impatiently tapping on the door to his office could suddenly be heard. He raised his head as he closed the file and cast the pen aside. “Come in,” he called out and waited.

The door opened and much to his dismay, John Pierce sauntered into the room. His former partner’s eyes still carried the same ambition they had when the two agents had done field work together. “Agent Pierce,” he said, still addressing him with his surname. He was not one who would idly use first names, not even if it was requested of him. If anything, this would enable Phil to maintain some formal distance from a person whom he did not necessarily like.

For his part, Pierce simply closed the door and strode the length of the room and sat down on the chair opposite the desk. “How you doing, McFee?”

“Alright,” he responded, “and yourself?”

“Fine and dandy,” Pierce said, a smug smile finding its way to his lips. The senior agent’s eyes stared across the desk at Phil as he continued speaking. “I just wanted to stop by and say ‘good-bye’. You probably won’t see much of me around here anymore.”

Phil studied his former partner’s face for clarification, but receiving none, he silently waited. The elder of the two men carried an expression on his face that reminded Phil of those guys who would be out playing cards all night and had perfected a stony poker face.

“You're leaving?” He eventually asked. Internally, he was thinking, well, don't let the door hit your backside on the way out.

“Aren’t you even interested in hearing about what happened and how this all came about?”

Not necessarily, he thought, but instead of vocalizing those feelings, he raised his head. “Well, I figured you'd get around to telling me,” he responded plainly.  
Pierce took a deep breath as a smirk lined his otherwise chiseled features. “It's no secret, McFee, I got the promotion I was waiting for.” A smug smile remained even after the words had faded.

Do I really want to hear this? Phil asked himself. Instead of being rude, he responded. “Congratulations. How’d it come about?”

“I was able to combine information from several of my cases, and file a report with my superiors,” Pierce said, the arrogant smirk still on his face. “The irony is that it all tied back to that Jenkinsville thing.”

“I don’t follow,” Phil responded. “That was six years ago.”

“I know,” Pierce nodded. “I suppose that since it’s been so long since it happened, I should probably come clean on it. There were a few things that I didn’t tell you about that case when we had it.”

“What specifically did you not tell me?” Phil asked. “I recall you saying that the escapee was shot and killed and we suspected that the girl was involved.”

“Do you remember what happened just before we went to their house?” Pierce asked.

“Sure, you came by my hotel room, banged on the door, and when I opened it, you showed me a piece of yellow paper and said that we had to go and talk to the girl.”

“The information I had was falsified,” Pierce confessed.

“What?”

“Don't play off like you have suddenly gone deaf, McFee,” Pierce said, his eyes practically gleaming. “I knew what that brat did; I just needed to back her into a corner to get her to confess. Much of the information I had about Reiker was false.” As he was speaking, a sly grin stretched across his face.

“You told me it was factual,” Phil argued. “You swore up and down that Reiker was dead, and now you're telling me that we used his ‘rumored’ passing as a means to get the girl to tell us the truth.”

“What difference does it make?” Pierce barked. “The kid confessed to harboring a German Prisoner of War. We got what we wanted.”

“At a child's expense,” Phil mused. “I know that we were the ones who put in the recommendation to send her to reform school and perhaps that was what she needed. But, after all that, the case was closed.”

Pierce took a deep breath as his practiced response emerged. “Phil,” he spoke the younger agent's given name. When Phil McFee raised his head, he continued. “That was why I didn't tell you that the whole thing was a trick.”

“A trick?” Phil asked skeptically. “So, basically, what you’re saying is that Reiker is still alive?”

Pierce shrugged his shoulders before his next words emerged. “Maybe, but it never ceases to amaze me as to what a seemingly official looking piece of paper and some theatre blood on a blue colored shirt can reap.”

As if on cue, Phil’s face went a shade whiter. “So, what you’re basically saying is that your promotion is entirely based on a lie.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that, and Reiker’s not around to argue otherwise,” Pierce smirked. “Look, I did what every good agent does; I managed to fudge a little bit of information and got the stupid kid to fall for it. And she did; hook, line, and sinker. I used the very same tactic when I spoke to a witness and got them to spill the beans about a mafia suspect.”

“So in order to get her to spill the beans, you basically told her that her best friend was dead,” Phil said.

“Don’t go soft, McFee, he was just a Nazi,” Pierce snapped.

“He was her friend and we told her that he was dead,” Phil said. “That poor girl has been grieving him for six long years.”

“Oh come on, let’s not get melodramatic,” Pierce snapped. “It's not our fault that the stupid kid picked the wrong friend. The bottom line is, when a suspect lets their guard down, we pounced and ended up getting everything we wanted. What do you care about some traitorous kid in a silly hick town?”

In lieu of a response, Phil’s eyes closed slightly. “Perhaps I shouldn't care, but if Reiker is still alive...” His voice trailed as he looked at his former partner, and allowed his next question to emerge. “Is he?”

“Who knows?”

“So, was he ever captured?” Phil asked.

“Yes, they did catch up with him that night in Buffalo. That much was true. It was also how we ended up getting the shirt. Since the bullet hole was not all that dramatic, I took the incentive to doctor it up a bit. After that, I came to get you and we went to get the girl’s confession. As far as I know, Reiker was taken to a prisoner of war camp in New York and stayed there until the end of the war.”

“And none of this bothers you,” he whispered. “Not even a little.”

“No, why should it?” Pierce responded as he got to his feet and started towards the door. When he turned back around and saw the skeptical expression on Phil’s face, his expression darkened. “Look, McFee, I don’t need a lecture from you on morality.” He opened the door, but stopped before stepping out into the hallway. Turning around, he regarded Phil through threateningly narrowed eyes. “Don’t go and do something stupid, McFee. I have enough clout that I can destroy you.”

With these words still hanging in the air, the elder of the two agents left the room.

Once he was gone, Phil raised his head and stared as the door was closed. “Then it is abundantly clear that his only intention was to come in here and brag,” he muttered under his breath. “Typical.”

Getting to his feet, the FBI Agent quietly went over to the filing cabinet to file the group of folders away, his thoughts still drifting back to the conversation he had had with Agent Pierce.


	2. Chapter 1

Jenkinsville, June 1950

As the sounds of the Jenkinsville High School band played ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ Patricia Ann Bergen sat with the rest of the graduating class of 1950. The ceremony itself had been boring, the music unusually dry. The eighteen-year-old knew that the minute the event would end; she would have no other alternative except to return home and spend the rest of the day with her family.

There, she would have to sit around and talk about what she was going to do with the rest of her life. She knew what she wanted to do, but confessing that to anyone would have been a disaster in the making. Her parents figured that she would spend the summer working in their department store, and then when the fall semester started, she would go off and begin her studies at the local community college.

Of course, their plans were completely contrary to what she actually wanted to do. Although she was an adult, she knew that their expectations dominated everything about her. Now the underlying question buzzed about in her mind as the ceremony drew to a close. Would she be forced to continue playing the good little girl or would she find the courage to stand up to them and follow her heart?

The prospect of boarding a ship bound for Europe had been cursing through her mind ever since Anton's tragic death. Now, with her reaching this milestone in her life; the desire to make peace with her past hit her like a runaway train.

Given the fact that she had an overwhelmingly rocky relationship with her parents, Patty knew better than to come out and speak of anything she wanted or desired. So, her feelings about traveling had been kept under an emotional lock and key.

As the ceremony ended, the young woman watched as the other sixteen graduates jumped to their feet and threw their caps high into the air. Excited squeals and a small mist of grayish blue colored caps suddenly rained down on her place on the stage. It was at that moment that she was thrust back into the present moment. After several seconds, she could suddenly hear the applause emanating from the family and friends of the graduating class.

Instead of following their enthusiastic lead, she merely pulled the square shaped object off her head and stared down at it before getting to her feet. With false jubilation, she began to wave it around as though excited. If truth were known, Patty Bergen felt an uncanny emptiness inside.

Seconds passed before she tucked the small notebook, which held her diploma as well as the cap, under her arm and watched as the other graduates began to leave the stage and head out the side door in order to greet their families.

Getting to her feet, she too started to make her way over towards the door leading outside.

Stepping through the doorway, the first thing she noticed was that several of her fellow graduates had taken off their robes and were draping them over their arms. Patty, upon feeling the heat from the mid-June sun against her robed arms started to do the same as cigarette smoke began to permeate the air.

Wafting her hand in front of her face, she started to make her way along the sidewalk and away from the groups of people.

There, standing between the gym entrance and the street, she waited for her parents, grandparents, and Sharon to emerge from the building and approach where she was standing.

“Why didn't you just wait for us inside?” Harry Bergen demanded as he came over to where she was waiting. “It's hotter than hell out here.”

“They told us during rehearsal that we had to come outside as soon as the ceremony was over,” Patty responded plainly. As if the emphasize her point, she waved a hand back in the direction of the gymnasium where the custodian was impatiently waiting for the guests to leave so that he could lock the double doors.

Instead of nodding or affirming his daughter's words, Harry simply grunted as he pulled a Lucky Strike from a crushed pack. He then stuffed one end of the cigarette between his lips before looking for a book of matches.

As usual, Patty's mother remained quiet, her hand brushing imaginary lint from the front of her white summer dress. Pearl Bergen was always the picture of perfection, Patty thought as she watched her mother started looking around the area for Patty's younger sister, Sharon.

Rounding out the family was Patty’s maternal grandparents. They were the closest thing to a family that she knew. They had come from Memphis to see her graduate and without their presence; Patty would have ended up feeling pretty much ignored.

Instead of waiting for any of them, she started to walk slowly back in the direction of where she lived with her parents and sister. Wordlessly, her grandparents followed, neither complaining, but every so often they would waft their hands in front of their faces to either block the sun, or fan themselves.

As this silent procession continued along the graveled streets, Patty turned around every so often to see if they were still behind her. Noting that they were, she continued to walk.

When they finally reached the Bergen house, Patty noticed immediately that someone was standing at the front door. It looked to be a man clad in a long overcoat. His hand looked to be raised halfway as though wanting to knock, but not knowing if he should. From this distance, Patty could not make out who he was, but could tell by the dark colors he wore, that he looked to be rather official. A hat was calmly perched atop his head.

Before she could approach or even utter a sound, her father recognized the man first and pushed his way past her and up to the front door of the house.

Upon hearing the approaching family, the man abruptly turned around. Patty swallowed as recognition dawned on her.

For his part, Harry Bergen’s face grew red with rage, and he spoke, his voice practically drifting down the street and into the town square. “McFee, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to speak with your daughter,” he responded. Unlike his words in the past, Patty immediately noticed the non-confrontational tone that had emerged from him. This piqued her curiosity, but she kept all lingering questions at bay. Instead, she watched as the agent politely tipped his hat towards the women who were now standing at an equal distance from the front door as Patty now was.

At that moment, Samuel Fried spoke up. “Who is this man, Harry?”

Harry didn’t respond, instead he put his hands on his hips and tried to puff himself up to McFee’s height. Failing miserably at that and realizing that he was no match for the other man; he quickly turned on his daughter. “What did you do this time?” He yelled.

Despite her not wanting to show her father that she was afraid, Patty found herself backing away and looking for some means of escape.

Instead of finding it, she stumbled backwards and landed on the ground, her eyes staring fearfully up at her father. “I didn’t do anything. I don’t know why he’s here, unless it’s to gloat about what happened back when I was a kid,” she managed from her place on the ground.

“Why should I believe you?” Harry grumbled. “You have done nothing except betray your family with lies and deceit. His presence only proves that you are not to be trusted.”

“Now, Harry, calm down, you know that was six years ago. Things have changed,” Mr. Fried spoke up as he extended a hand to the young woman and helped her back onto her feet. “Don’t let either of them talk you down, Patricia. It’s your graduation day, and you most certainly don’t need anyone here to spoil it for you.”

Patty took a deep breath as she regarded McFee. Her grandfather’s words had been kind, but deep down inside; she knew that her day was already ruined. The last thing she wanted or needed was another reminder of the person she had lost. The silence that engulfed her now spoke volumes, but she was not yet certain if it was directed at her father or the FBI agent. One thing was blatantly clear, Patricia Bergen had not forgotten what had happened, and chances were that she never would.

Strangely, the young woman was no longer certain who made her feel the most intimidated and insignificant; her father or the agent. Although her conscience with the FBI was completely clear, her father seemed bound and determined to hold it all over her head.

Sure, the war had ended, and even after spending six months in reform school, she had returned home to nothing more than scrutiny and scornful stares. Her only option now was to steer clear of her father.

At that moment, Patty’s instincts were literally screaming at her to run away before he got a chance to pull his belt off and beat her black and blue right there in front of the house. Even as a young adult, she would put nothing past him.

As silence descended on the small group, McFee turned and regarded the young woman. Instead of immediately speaking, he sighed when he saw the very same fear in her eyes as he had seen with children who were afraid of large dogs.

“Mr. Bergen,” he eventually spoke to the irate man. “I know that this seems quite unorthodox to you, but I would like a few moments to speak with your daughter alone.”

“I will not allow it,” Harry snapped.

Patty raised her head and instead of looking at her father, she looked at the man in the gray overcoat and hat. “What do you want to talk to me about, Agent McFee?”

“I think you know the answer to that, Miss Bergen, you are quite the clever young lady,” he said, his response overtly vague.

Somehow, this response sparked the young reporter’s overt curiosity and she waited for him to shed some light on things.

As if reading her mind, Phil began his explanation. “Please, I have some information that I believe will be of interest to you. It’s not official, that is; you are not in any trouble whatsoever.”

Before Patty could respond, Harry shouted over the agent’s words. “If this is about that Nazi scum, then my family is not interested.”

Patty looked briefly into the angry face of her father, but instead of speaking to him, she turned away and bravely addressed the FBI man. “Agent McFee, just tell me in plain English what this is about?”

“Alright, if you insist, it’s about Frederick Anton Reiker,” the man responded.

“Anton?” Patty whispered. Without so much as thinking about her parents, grandparents, or sister, her eyes grew wide and she looked at him. “What is it?”

Before the man could so much as offer a response; Harry reached out and grabbed her arm. As she felt his tight hold on it, she cringed before feeling herself being forcefully dragged towards the house. “I do not want to hear anymore from you,” he grumbled.

Impulsively, the young woman started to try and wrench herself free from her father’s firm grasp. After some moments had passed, she managed. She knew that there was going to be a bruise on her arm, but at that moment, she did not care. Instead, she rubbed the area where he had inflicted the pain and glared at him. “You may have been able to do that to me when I was twelve, but I’m not a baby anymore and I’m not going to let you treat me like trash. If this is about Anton, then I want to know.”

“I don't,” Harry shouted back as he tried a second time to grab her arm. This time, instead of reaching his daughter, he suddenly saw that his mother-in-law had intervened. Her eyes were filled with hostility as she regarded him.

“Get out of my way,” he sneered.

“No, I will not,” she affirmed. After several moments of silence passed, she took a deep breath and spoke. “Look Harry, far be it for me to interfere with the way you bring up your children, but what are you trying to prove? I think Patricia is old enough to decide for herself if she wants to listen to what this man has to say.”

When Pearl Bergen’s father nodded in concurrence, Patty suddenly felt for the first time in her life that she was not out on a limb as far as her father was concerned. With that in mind, the young woman was more than determined to find out what news McFee intended on sharing with her.

Before she could inquire, her mother turned and looked at her parents. “You have no right to tell Patricia Ann that she may speak to this man. We’re her parents and that’s our job...”

“...No, it’s not your job anymore, Pearl.” This time instead of the words emerging from Mrs. Fried, they were now emerging from the Patty’s grandfather. “Patricia is eighteen-years-old now and is considered an adult. If she wants to speak to this man about her friend, then she is perfectly within her rights. We may not approve of her ‘friend’, but we cannot force our will onto a grown woman.” He turned away from his daughter and looked at the agent. “Perhaps you should tell her what this is all about and stop beating around the bush.”

Phil McFee nodded as he cast a wary glance towards the young woman’s parents and grandparents. “Is there somewhere more private where we can speak?” He asked her.

Skepticism lined Patty’s face, but sensing that what he needed to tell her was important, she nodded as she handed the small notebook, cap, and gown to her grandmother.  
Once she had been freed of the items, she calmly stepped away from the group.

“Patricia, I’m warning you...” Harry shouted, his words somehow indicative of his last ditch attempt at control. When his eldest child ignored his threat, he helplessly watched as the two of them walked away from the house and down the street.

Once they had managed to distance themselves away from the house, the agent spoke. “I never realized how hard things must have been with your father,” he mused. “It takes a good deal of courage to stand up to someone like that.”

“Perhaps,” she said, but stopped when she noticed that they were a safe distance from the house. Turning back around, she regarded him as her next words emerged. “Okay, Agent McFee, why did they send you here?”

“No one sent me anywhere,” McFee responded. “I’m actually on vacation.”

“Jenkinsville is hardly a vacationer’s paradise, you know,” she said.

“You can say that again,” he mused before taking off his hat. With it now in his hand, he began to run it between his fingers before looking at her. “I know that you have every reason in the world to despise me. A lot of things happened six years ago, but right now I am grateful to you for at least hearing me out. If anything you’re actually helping me clear my conscience.”

“Clear your conscience?” She asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Miss Bergen...” he repeated her name, but before he could get any further, she interrupted him.

“...It’s Patty or Patricia. I may be eighteen, but I most definitely know my place,” she responded. Her words were neither cold nor hate filled, they were simple and matter-of-fact. Before he could collect his thoughts and speak, she continued.

“You mentioned what happened six years ago, and I’m all ears,” she began. “I mean; it must be important for you to come out here when you could be on a beach somewhere. I just don’t see what any of this has to do with me. In fact, given what just happened back there, I’m going to be the one who will ultimately have to answer for your presence here.”

“I’m here because there’s something very important that you must know,” McFee began. “I felt that given how your parents reacted to my presence, that it would be more prudent for me to say this when we were alone.”

“Why?” She asked.

“I guess there is no real way to explain this except to come right out and tell you,” he began. “Do you remember the day we interrogated you?”

“It was the middle of the night, but yes, I remember,” she said as she felt her body unconsciously shivering.

“I take it you do recall what happened just prior to your confession,” he said.  
“Yes, but why bring this up now?” She asked. “I'm trying to forget...”

“...Pain is not something that you can easily forget,” he interrupted her with a shrug of his shoulders. “The loss of a friend, no matter where they come from is never easy. Having witnessed the behavior of your father, I can understand how hard all of this must have been for you.”

“You were only doing your job.”

“Perhaps, but I didn’t realize what that meant until last January when I was sitting in my office in DC and John Pierce came in and started telling me about his latest promotion,” he began.

“What does that have to do with me?” She asked.

“It has a great deal to do with you,” he began. “On that particular day, I was reminded of the events that happened here six years ago. I know that you may not believe what I have to say, but it is the truth. At the same time, I really hate being the one to bring up other people's personal tragedies, but that’s the reason why I'm here. Miss Ber...I mean, Patricia, I found out in January that the interrogation that happened six years ago was done under false pretenses. It was a trick that my former partner devised to get you to confess to harboring an escaped Prisoner of War.”

“What are you trying to say?” She asked, her face suddenly losing all its color.

“I'm saying that I have reason to believe that your friend, Frederick Anton Reiker is still alive. He was shot just outside of Buffalo, New York, that is true, but the injuries he sustained were not as extensive as Agent Pierce led you to believe.”

“So, what you’re saying is that Anton’s - alive?” Patty whispered.

When McFee nodded, the young woman found herself sinking to her knees and staring up at him in profound disbelief.


	3. Chapter 2

Swallowing, Patty stared up at the agent. Her eyes unconsciously filled with tears, but for several moments, no words emerged. Instead, she fought to keep her feelings under some sort of control.

For his part, Phil McFee simply stood, all the while not knowing what else he could say. Without any sort of warning, guilt began to wash over him. He knew that the girl was shocked by the information he had conveyed, but now the words were stuck in his throat.

There, in silence, they remained until he was able to swallow the lump that had formed there. After some moments he reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder. When she raised her head, he regarded her through sympathetic blue eyes. “I know that this must come as quite a surprise to you.”

“No, a surprise is a ripped dress, Agent McFee, if what you say is true, then this isn’t a surprise, it’s a miracle,” Patty whispered as she swiped her hand across her face and smeared away the existing moisture. “Are you absolutely sure? Or is this just another trick?”

“It’s no trick,” he said. “As far as I know, Reiker is still alive.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“His last known location was Buffalo, New York,” he said. “But, I can’t guarantee that he’s still there.”

Patty looked down at the ground. “In other words, it will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

“Perhaps, but remember, I do have connections that might make it easier for us to find him,” he smiled weakly. 

“What do you mean, ‘us’?” She asked.

Phil took a deep breath. “It may seem hard for you to believe, but I really do want to help you find him.” He paused before continuing. “I have two weeks before I am due back in DC. That should give us plenty of time to get there and see what we can find out.”

“But, what if he went back to Germany?”

“If he did, then there will be very little I can do to help,” he said regretfully, “but perhaps we ought to cross that particular bridge if we come to it.”

“Why do you want to help me so much?”

“Because, I think we did you a disservice,” he began.

“I don’t understand. I mean, Anton was an escaped P.O.W. and you were just doing your job. What more could you have done?”

“It was a job, yes, but after everything was said and done, you were still in a shaky situation,” he began. “Do you know what I discovered the day we came to your house six years ago?”

“What?”

“That you truly loved him and that when you thought he was dead, the world that you knew had ended,” he began. “Patricia, you sacrificed everything for him, including your freedom. You know that very few people would have done what you did. If anyone in this town had found him, things would have evolved much differently than they did. Now, tell me honestly, how many people do you think would have done the same?”

Patty looked at him for signs of insincerity. Seeing none, she took a deep breath. “I remember when I was being taken to the boarding school; I asked Mr. Grimes if he thought that a German could be good?”

Phil nodded. “And you knew that they could, even though everyone around was calling them Nazis, and viewing them as the enemy. Maybe that’s why I decided that I would like to help reunite the two of you. Now that the war is over, we can let bygones be bygones.”

“Maybe so, but people around here still haven’t forgotten the things that I did, Agent McFee. If they even knew that Anton might be alive, then there’d be a lynch mob on its way to Buffalo.” Despite herself, Patty shuddered. For the umpteenth time, she realized how much she despised living in a small town.

“If you don’t mind, my name is Phil,” he began. “Since I’m off duty at the moment, I would prefer leaving the ‘Agent’ malarkey back in DC.”

Patty nodded, but feeling too shy to speak his name, she looked at him. “You seem much nicer than you were six years ago.”

“I’m gonna tell you a secret as to why that is,” he began. “The person I was six years ago was overwhelmed by ambition. You know what that can do to a person? It’s rather like a noose around one’s neck; squeezing out the life, and making one forget that they are human. You see; that sort of thing can make one’s heart seem encased in stone. That makes it easy to cast off friends like an old coat. I may not have known back then, but you can rest assured that it’s a lesson that has been learned.”

“It’s strange how you’ve changed,” she mused. “I still remember the first time we met and how you made me cry.”

He nodded regretfully. “I remember that, too.”

They started to walk further up the street and when they reached the end of the road, Patty stopped and looked at him. “How do I know that this isn’t some sort of trick?”

Phil took a deep breath. “What does your conscience tell you?”

“To be careful,” she said honesty. “I guess I learned a long time ago that I shouldn’t always believe what I’m told just because someone insists that it’s the truth.”

Phil nodded. “I know what you mean.”

“You do?”

“Yes,” he said, still nodding.

“How specifically did you find out that Anton was still alive?” She could not help but ask.

“Everything sort of ‘blew up in my face’ back in January. I was sitting at my desk in my office going through some paperwork for another case. I must admit that I hadn’t thought about Reiker or the events that happened here for a long time. At any rate, Agent Pierce came in and started telling me about his latest promotion.”

Upon hearing the name of the agent’s former partner, Patty cringed.

Nothing this, Phil smiled slightly. “Believe me; I feel the same way as you do about him.” He paused before continuing his story. “I wasn’t sure I really wanted to hear about it, but after some time had passed, he started telling me how several of his promotions had been based entirely on an untruth. For the last six years, he has been using Reiker and your story as rationale to get raises and promotions. He finally told me on that day that the story about Reiker’s death was concocted and held no truth to it whatsoever.”

Patty closed her eyes for several moments and then looked at him. “Why did he do that?”

“To get ahead,” he began. “It worked for the most part and while I never felt inclined to push my career forward by using your misfortune for personal benefit, he did. Now, I feel myself inclined to tell the truth even though some might say I had a case of sour grapes.”

“Do you?” She asked.

“Maybe a little,” he mused. “You’d be surprised at how many promotions and raises John Pierce has received at the expense of others.”

“You mean he benefitted from the story about Anton being dead?” Patty asked.

“Yes.” He took a deep breath. “Through that, I realized that telling the truth is a far cry better than trying to look good for the sake of a job. Besides that, I think you needed to know the truth.”

“Why didn’t you come sooner?” She asked.

“You know the answer to that,” he said. “I had to wait until you were eighteen and an adult. That way you could make your own decisions about the information. I remembered the way things had been with your father and I knew that if I had come sooner, then he would have tried to prevent you from leaving if that happened to be your intention. Besides, I only found out the truth at the start of this year and during that time, you were in school. I knew that there would have been no way for you to have started any sort of search while trying to finish getting your education.”

Patty offered an insecure nod. He was right about that. If she had quit school, it would have been a mistake and her entire family would have come down on her.

She looked into the blue eyes of the agent and with more courage than she knew she even possessed, she spoke. “When do we leave?”

~~~~~

The ruby redness of her lips were pursed tightly together as she looked across the table at the man she had been dating for the past year. Margaret Henderson’s smile had abruptly vanished as she stared into the gray blue eyes of her boyfriend. “What are you saying?” She finally found her voice.

Anton Reiker took a deep breath as he clasped his hands together as though preparing himself to repeat the words he had spoken only moments before. “I want us to get married, Margaret, but I also realized many months ago that I truly miss my family, and I would like to go back to Germany.”

“But, I have family here,” she objected. “What about my friends and my job? I can’t just pack up and leave the county.” As her curt sounding voice filtered throughout the confines of the small diner, several people turned around and stared. “Anton, I’ve lived in Buffalo my entire life. I mean; what would I do in Germany?”

What would she do? He pondered. Not knowing how to respond to her line of questions, Anton took a deep breath as he regarded her through patient eyes. He realized that he did not have the answers that she wanted to hear, but knew that he should at least say something.

“I know that this seems very hard for you to understand,” he began.

“It seems hard to understand?” She mimicked back at him. “Anton, I don’t think you realize the extent of what you are asking of me. I don’t know a single woman who would make the sacrifice that you’re expecting me to make.”

“I do realize,” he objected trying to ignore the blatant sarcasm that laced her words. “It’s not a decision that can be taken lightly.”

“Yet, that is what you’re asking of me,” she mused. “I know that you miss your family and I also know what happened to you during the war, but it’s selfish of you to expect me to throw everything away that I have here.”

He sighed. He had always known that it would be hard for Margaret to leave New York. He recalled hearing about how she and her mother had gone to work in a factory during the war years. The call for female workers had seeped through the Henderson household like gangbusters. While it seemed ironic to any onlooker, Anton could tell that it had created an inseparable bond between mother and daughter.

He knew beyond any doubt that the woman he loved had come from a very liberated background, and her next question proved that beyond any shadow of a doubt.

“You do have until the end of the year before your residency runs out, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, but…”

“…So couldn’t you get your visa extended?” She interrupted. “Maybe we could work it out so that you can stay. My uncle likes you and he wouldn’t have any problems with helping to extend your contract.”

Anton shook his head. “I can’t. Besides, I have already inquired about another extension at the Foreign Nationals Office and they refused. They told me when I got my last work permit that this would be the last one. Once that time runs out, I have to go.”

“Not if you marry me,” she said. “If you do that then you can stay forever on a permanent residency.”

“You know I cannot force you into a marriage for the convenience of staying here. That would be wrong, and you know it. Besides, all this time that you’ve been asking me about what you would do, I have been wondering what I’m supposed to do here.”

Margaret took a deep breath. “You’d work for my uncle at the accounting firm.”

Anton shook his head. “I can’t do that. Before the war, I was a medical student and I aspired to become a doctor. Ever since the war ended, I have known that I could go back and take up where I left off. Working in an accounting firm is not what I imagined myself doing.”

“Anton, you’re 28-years-old,” she began. “Isn’t it a bit late for you to decide that you want to go back to school?”

“It’s never too late,” he said.

“Then why did you stay?” She asked.

“It would be hard for me to explain,” he began.

“Then let me guess, it was probably about that girl you told me about,” Her words emerged; the bitter jealousy literally filling the room.

“She was a child, Margaret,” he objected. “You have no reason to be jealous of a twelve-year-old girl. We were just friends.”

“Maybe, but you stayed long after the war had ended,” she objected. “If you ask me, I think she still means something to you. After all, she’d be eighteen now, and the last time I checked, that’s old enough.”

As silence descended on them, Margaret looked at him. “I don’t think you want to start a family with me.”

“Why do you say that?” He asked.

“You’ve made an impossible set of conditions for me that I couldn’t possibly live up to,” she whispered. “I know that I want to marry you, but love really should be unconditional.”

“I understand,” he began. “I’m really sorry, Margaret.”

She nodded as she leaned across the table and kissed his cheek. “So am I,” she whispered as she backed away from him. “So, what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to go to New York City and get on a ship to go home. I have been saving my money for the last few years,” he said with a sigh. “I still have a contract to fulfill and I don’t think your uncle is going to let me out of it.”

“He won’t,” she responded as she dug in her pocketbook and dropped several coins on the table. Once she had done that, she got to her feet and started towards the door. Before reaching it, she stopped and turned around. “Are we still friends, Anton?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Then take care and I’ll see you around.” As she spoke, she could feel the tears catching in her eyes. Ignoring them, she left the diner.

He watched her go and once the door had closed behind her, he looked down at his clasped hands. Another failed relationship, he thought sadly. Maybe Margaret’s right; maybe I am putting hard conditions on others because I cannot forget Patty Bergen.

Digging in the pocket of his trousers, he extracted his wallet and pulled out the rest of the money for the tab. As soon as he counted out a dollar ten, he placed the money on the table and stood up with the intention of leaving. “See you later, Irene,” he called out to the waitress.

“Take care, Anton,” she responded from behind the counter as he made his way over towards the door. As he was opening it, she walked over to the table and collected the money. “One day you’ll have to order something besides the flapjacks and maple syrup.”

He smiled and nodded, but stepped outside.

Outside, he walked along the side of the road, his thoughts still drifting. Across the street from the diner where he had met Margaret the first time, a movie house stood, the sign next to the door boldly advertising the latest gem out of Hollywood.

Anton smiled slightly as he read the name ‘All About Eve’ on the billboard marquee. Margaret had been bugging him for weeks about that film, but they had not yet made it there to watch it. Now, he figured that the chances of them going to see it were next to none.

Sighing, he made his way up the street in the direction of where he lived. The apartment building was situated several doors down from the diner.

Now that Margaret was no longer interested in marrying him, he figured that there was not much left for him to do except to leave. The failed relationship was one of many that he had experienced since the war had ended and his life as a fugitive had drawn to a close.


	4. Chapter 3

That evening, Patty sat in the passenger seat of Phil McFee’s rented car. She was not sure why it was she had agreed to accompany him, but something deep down inside of her had told her that this was the right thing to do. This same still small voice had gone on to argue that if she did not follow through with it, then she would spend the coming years living with disappointment and regret. Unceasing heartache was something that she had experienced for the past six years and it was also something that she did not wish to continue living with.

Regardless of the anger that had been displayed by her father, the young woman felt a new sense of determination with this adventure, which she was now embarking on.

As her eyes stared straight ahead, and dusk had given way to darkness, the vacationing agent turned and looked at her. “Is something on your mind?” He asked; his voice emerging as a mixture between polite pleasantry and friendly concern.

Patty turned away from the passing scenery and faced him. “It was nothing; I was just remembering the last time I was on this road.”

“When was that?” He asked, almost dreading what the response was going to be.

“Six years ago,” she mused. “I just saw a mile marker for Bolton. That was the boarding school that I was sent to after…you know.”

“I heard that you had gone there, but that you made quite a name for yourself as a writer. What was your penname again?”

“Antonia Alexander,” she said. “That was the only time I used it.”

“Why?” He asked.

“I don’t know, I guess when I left there, I just wanted to forget,” she whispered.

“But, you couldn’t,” he said almost automatically.

“Would you?” She asked.

“No.”

She turned away and stared out the window. “You know, it’s really strange, but right now I have the very same feelings as I did back then.”

“What do you mean?” He asked. “I thought that finding out about Reiker being alive would sort of make you happy.”

“It does but it’s been six years, and a lot can change in that time,” she said softly. “I mean; even if he is there, then who’s to say he’d want to see me? Maybe he’s married with a family. It would be awfully awkward for me to show up out of the blue and impose on his life.”

“Patricia…er…Patty,” he began deciding to address her more informally. “If Reiker didn’t want to see you then he’s most assuredly not the friend he should be.” Instead of continuing, he pulled the car to the side of the road, cut the motor, turned and faced her. “The way I see it is this: Even if he’s married with a kid and a two storey house, he should still want to see you. After all, it was you who put everything on the line for him, not the other way around. He’d be an absolute imbecile to turn you away. The rock bottom truth is; I don’t think he would. There was something inherently good in him that made you want to help him in the first place. Now, if he had been a fraud, then I don’t think you would have helped him, Right?”

“No, I wouldn’t have,” she said shaking her head.

“Do you remember what you said when your father confronted you about him?” Phil asked. “It was the night that we were at your house six years ago.”

“I remember,” she said sadly. “He asked me why I did it, and I said that Anton was good to me.”

“And your family wasn’t,” Phil finished.

“I didn’t say that,” she responded.

“You don’t have to. I could see it then and I saw it again today when I first approached you. Back then, I couldn’t see beyond my own ambitions, but after the fact, I did see it,” he said. “Maybe it seems strange, but that was one of the reasons I waited to come and find you once I knew the truth. I figured that you didn’t need anymore trouble with your daddy, you already had more than enough.”

“That’s the reason why I didn’t want you to come with me to the house to tell them,” she said honestly. “I didn’t want you to see how it really was.”

“But, I did, and it was not something I could easily forget,” he said as he reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder. “What I’d like to ask is if would be possible for us to become friends.”

“Friends?” She repeated the word dully.

Phil raised his hand upon hearing the word from her and inched his way back over towards the steering wheel. “I guess we should get back on the road. I’d like to get to the state line before we stop off for the night.” 

Discomfort descended on the pair for several more miles. After a while, Patty looked at him. “Phil?”

“Yes?”

“You really want to be my friend?” She asked.

“If you have no objections,” he responded.

“I don’t,” she responded. “But do you know what’s funny?”

“What?”

“My parents probably wouldn’t be happy about us being friends at all,” she said smiling slightly. “They weren’t thrilled when you showed up today, and if I told them what you said about Anton being alive, then they would have hit the ceiling.”

“You didn’t tell them?” He asked. “Why not?”

“Because they weren’t happy about my leaving,” she said. “If they had known about Anton, they would have been angrier than a nest full of hornets.”

He glanced over at her briefly before shifting his attention back to the road. “What happened after I went back to the hotel to pack?”

“Nothing much; I just told them that I was leaving,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Yes, but something did happen,” he countered. “Come on, Patty just tell me. Were they angry with me for stealing you away?”

“No, they were more outraged about you showing up. They probably figured that I was in trouble again,” she whispered as her thoughts drifted back to that final confrontation with her family.

~~~Patty’s Flashback~~~

Just before she had parted company with Phil McFee, she had told him that she wanted to face her family alone. She knew that his presence would only complicate things even more than they already were. So, after Patty had convinced him that she would be alright and that she would meet him at the hotel in two hours, she watched as he made his way back up the street.

Once he had disappeared in the distance, she calmly returned to her parents’ house. Talking to them would prove to be harder than anything she had ever done, but at that moment, she was armed with uncanny determination. She was going to tell them what they needed to know, pack, and then return to the hotel and meet Phil McFee.

Reaching the front door, Patty turned the knob and walked into the house. As she expected, her parents and grandparents were seated in the living room talking and, no doubt, waiting for her.

Harry abruptly got to his feet the moment she had stepped into the room, his eyes glazing over in anger. He did not like what had transpired out in their front yard and the first words he spoke were indicative of that. “What the hell did he want?” He demanded before Patty could so much as begin speaking.

“Mind your blood pressure, Harry,” Pearl spoke, but Patty could tell that her father had no intention of even heeding his wife’s words. He wanted answers and he was determined to have them come hell or high water.

The young woman took a deep breath. “Agent McFee just wanted to talk about what happened six years ago,” she said trying all the while to keep the diplomacy in her voice.

“I don’t buy that,” Harry sneered as he came even closer to where she was standing. “What did he want?”

Patty inhaled slowly as she felt herself unconsciously starting to back away from him. Before she could escape, he had reached her, and she suddenly felt the breath being forced from her when he grabbed her shoulders and began to shake her violently.

At that moment, Samuel Fried got to his feet and in one fluid motion; he grabbed both Harry and Patty’s shoulders and pried them apart. Succeeding, he turned and looked at his son-in-law, his gaze completely steady. “I don’t know what exactly happened, Harry, but I swear to God that if you so much as lay another finger on her, I’ll take you out myself.”

Harry took a deep breath, his face puffing up defiantly, but his body relaxed and his clenched fists lowered. Instead of speaking, everyone in the room waited for Patty to gun up the courage to drop her bombshell.

When she finally did, silence descended on the room for several moments. “I’m leaving Jenkinsville, tonight.”

As these words hung lazily in the air, Patty waited for the first of them to begin their objections. It came as no surprise that the first to speak was her mother. “But, you can’t. Patricia, we’re gonna need you at the store.”

“You don’t need me, Mother, if truth be known, you don’t even want me here,” she responded. “To you, I’m not a daughter; I’m just a spare pair of hands to save you a few bucks so you don’t have to hire a stranger to do the job. I’m eighteen-years-old now and although you may not understand, it’s high time for me go and find my own way.”

“Does this have anything to do with Mister FBI showing up?” Harry demanded.

Patty took a deep breath and nodded. “Maybe, but I think he was the catalyst to all of this.”

“What could he possibly help you with, your Nazi friend is dead,” Harry shouted.

Instead of responding to her father’s outburst, Patty turned to face her grandfather. “Six years ago, you told me that you didn’t approve of what I did, but that you did understand why I did what I did, right?”

The older man nodded and rested his hand on her shoulder. “That’s what I said, Patricia, and believe me when I say that your grandmother and I do understand, and I will stand right here and protect your right to make the choice that you feel you must make.”

“Thank you, Grandpa,” she said gratefully. “I know that this is the right thing to do. I can’t explain why, it’s just a feeling I have.” Once he had nodded, he handed her an envelope.

“Don’t open this until after you leave,” he whispered.

She nodded and tucked it in the pocket of her dress before embracing him. As she backed away, she noticed him offering an encouraging smile before gently nudging her in the direction of her room. “Go now,” he said gently.

She nodded and quietly left the room.

From the sanctuary of her bedroom, she could still hear the sounds of her father shouting angrily at her grandparents. Closing the door, the voices abruptly faded and she got on the floor, reached under the bed and pulled out a worn brown colored suitcase.

~~~~~

An hour later, she had finished packing and when she emerged from the room with her suitcase in hand, the first thing she noticed was that neither her father nor her mother were anywhere to be seen. Instead, Patty’s grandparents came out of the room and over to her as she approached the front door and was making ready to leave.

“You do know that if you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can always come to Memphis, don’t you Patricia?” Her grandmother asked.

She nodded gratefully. “Yes, Grandma, I know.”

“Good girl,” her grandfather said, as both of them smiled approvingly. “Don’t you worry about your folks; they both knew that this day was bound to come. Your grandmother and I realized a long time ago that you had more possibilities in life than just sitting here and drying up in this two-bit town. You deserve far more than to be forced into working for nothing.”

“Thank you, Grandpa,” she said and after giving them both a final hug, she picked up her suitcase and walked outside. Once the door had closed behind her, she took a deep breath and made her way down the street in the direction of the hotel.

~~~Patty’s Flashback End~~~

As she finished relaying these events to Phil, she took a deep breath as she shrugged her shoulders. “It’s strange, but I never expected my grandparents to be so supportive.”

Phil nodded. “Sometimes family can be surprising.”

Patty smiled weakly as she brushed her hand over the envelope where her grandparents’ graduation present rested. They sure can, she thought as she closed her eyes.


	5. Chapter 4

The small two-room apartment greeted Anton as he returned from a long walk. The meeting with Margaret at the diner earlier that afternoon had not exactly been what he had anticipated or hoped for. A small part of him simply could not help but feel relieved that it had ended on a more positive note. They were still friends, although he knew from experience that that sort of ‘friendship’ would not last once he left Buffalo.

Deep down inside, he could not shake the accusing words that she had spoken to him. With a troubled sigh, he entered the apartment and turned on the light. Clearing the doorway, he closed the front door, walked to the center of the living room, and tossed his keys haphazardly onto the coffee table.

If only I could just drop everything and go home, he thought sadly as he allowed his weight to collapse into a chair. He knew beyond any doubt that he could not simply run away from these problems. Not when he had given his word that he would stay and work at the accounting firm until his residency had expired.

As his unhappy thoughts continued to drift, he took in the dismal looking domicile that he called ‘home’. The place had not changed too terribly much since the end of the war when he had moved in. In fact, Anton often felt strange for having stayed in a country that boasted him as the enemy and approved of his being hunted like wild game.

He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and carefully pulled it down over one shoulder until the scar he bore was visible. Swallowing, he stared at the discoloration as well as the indentures that were permanently on his skin. This served as a symbol and would always remind him of his near brush with death.

After several moments of staring, he shifted the shirt until it once again covered the scar. As he re-buttoned it, his gaze shifted to the patchwork sofa that was adjacent to where he was now seated. This is not the life I wanted, he thought as his took a deep and staggering breath. The sofa was said to be the centerpiece of the entire room, but instead of it being something to be prideful of; it was a dreary reminder of the overwhelming stagnancy of his present day to day life.

This had never been his aspiration, not even during his somewhat turbulent relationship with Margaret. Sure, the money was good, and he had enjoyed that aspect of it, but something in his life was missing.

Glancing down, his gaze came to rest on the polka-dotted chair to which he was seated. The cushions were lumpy and carried a musty odor as though they had been left out in the rain. Nearby a sofa was placed with a coffee table in front of it. To the left and right of that, mismatched tables stood, one with a lamp on it. The bookshelf that was against the opposite wall was empty except for several worn copies with the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Over the windows limp curtains hung and wafted in the breeze.

Releasing a sigh, Anton got to his feet and went into to the adjoining kitchen and began to dig around in the cupboards. There he found several cans of soup and pulled one down. His expression was emotionless as he stared blankly at the can. Instead of opening it, he returned it to the counter before taking a deep breath and walking back into the living room.

Instead of simply seating himself in the chair, he went over and picked up the copy of Emerson’s essays. Holding it, he returned to the chair and seated himself before opening the volume. As he looked down at the table of contents, his thoughts returned to the past when Patty had asked him to teach her what he knew.

What did I know, really? That war is a horrible way for people to resolve conflicts or enforce their will upon the masses? He pondered as he brushed his hand down over the words that graced the page.

She wanted to be intelligent and pretty, but she already was; she just didn’t realize it. I have always known that regardless of her station in life, she will still possess both of these qualities. It doesn’t matter anyway, because I know that the chance of me ever seeing her again is remote at best. Even if I did go back to Jenkinsville, there’s no guarantee that I would even find her there.

His thoughts shifted and he recalled that fateful afternoon when he witnessed Harry Bergen beating his daughter to an inch of her life. He would never forget her piercing cries as the man assaulted her for the crime of speaking to someone he did not approve of.

Rubbing his face with one hand while still holding the book with the other, Anton tried to block out the images that he had seen six years ago. The problem was that they were still so fresh in his mind that forgetting simply could not happen.

Why in God’s name can’t I just forget about her? His thoughts demanded as he closed his eyes briefly and recalled the conversation he and Patty had shared the following day. She had come into the hideout with several layers of white powder covering her legs. He could still remember the flowery scent that had emanated her when she had climbed up the stairs and into the room.

She had been so afraid of how I would react to her, he thought sadly. She had been ashamed of an act that had not even been her fault. I will never forget the impulse I had to just take her into my arms and protect her from all the tempests that surrounded her. But, how could I? I was a fugitive. To profess such a thing was far too unrealistic and we both knew it.

His thoughts continued to drift as his gaze once again rested on Emerson’s table of contents. The two essays he had given her to read seemed to stare up at him as though giving him a silent message. This told him that he ought to take a chance and go and find her.

Realizing that his thoughts would simply not change, he continued to ponder his young friend. Did she even know that he had survived the war? Did she remember all of the things as clearly as he did?

Sitting in the silence of his living room affirmed to Anton precisely what Margaret had been concerned about. Her accusations had been the truth. No matter how hard he tried, he could not forget Patty Bergen. At that moment, he knew that he would not have had it any other way.

Getting to his feet some moments later, he returned the book to the bookshelf before leaving the room and entering the bedroom. It was time for him to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be another day.

The only difference was now he knew that he still cared for Patty Bergen and that he was no longer willing to replace her with another person. Anton understood beyond any doubt that there was no one else who could fill Patty’s shoes.

He knew he still loved her and he would never, ever, forget her.

~~~~~

As Patty and Phil crossed the Arkansas state line and entered the northwestern corner of Tennessee, she yawned as she looked down at her watch. Not seeing the numbers in the darkness left her to wonder what time it was and how much longer they would be on the road that evening. The agent had said that they would stop after they had entered the neighboring state, but this left her to wonder how far he intended them to go.

When at last she spotted a sign that read, ‘Trimble 10 miles’, Patty looked at him. “Maybe we should spend the night there.”

Phil nodded. “If they have a hotel, then we can stop.”

Several miles down the highway, the few lights appeared in the distance announcing Trimble, Tennessee to the approaching traffic. Upon seeing a sign for the Trimble Inn, persuaded Phil to pull off the highway and followed the street about half a mile until they reached the hotel parking lot.

Once he had pulled into a spot, stopped the car, and shut off the motor; they got out and walked towards the door leading into the lobby.

Inside, they approached the counter and Phil looked into the eyes of the woman seated at the desk. “Do you have any vacancies for tonight?” He asked the woman as a greeting.

“Yes, we have several,” she responded as she looked first at Patty and then at him. Upon seeing the two of them standing together, her eyebrows arched slightly.

“We’d like two rooms please,” Phil said firmly, his emphasis firmly resting on the number of rooms he had requested.

Nodding, the woman reached inside a small wire basket and extracted two separate pieces of paper. “Please fill these out and I’ll need four dollars apiece for the two rooms,” she said as she got up from the desk and left them alone.

Patty nodded and glanced down at the page the woman had placed in front of her. Upon reading it, she looked at him somewhat unnerved. “Phil, they want my address. I don’t know if I want my parents to find out where I am.”

“Then to save us from small town rumors, we’ll use my home address on yours and my work address on mine,” he said as he dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. From it, he extracted the money for his room as well as a small index card. This, he pressed into her hand. “My address is on the front of this. I reckon that they only want addresses in case there’s damage done to the room or stolen towels. I don’t anticipate you destroying the room or anything like that, do you?”

Patty shook her head as she accepted the card he offered. She then reached inside her pocket and pulled out the envelope from her grandparents. Getting the money out, she returned the white colored object to her pocket and began to fill out the page.

Several moments later, the woman had returned to the counter to see that Patty and Phil had finished filling out the paper and had handed her the pages from across the counter. Once she had checked the addresses of the two guests, she accepted the eight dollars needed for the two private rooms.

Seconds later, they were each handed a key. A hasty ‘enjoy your stay’, emerged from the woman followed as they quietly left the cramped lobby.

Outside, Patty looked at him. “She was looking at us very strangely,” she remarked. “It’s was just like the townspeople in Jenkinsville.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he offered as he opened the trunk and they began pulling out their suitcases. “We’re probably the most excitement this town has seen in months.”

Casting a quick glance around where they were standing, Patty concurred. Once she had her suitcase in hand, she consulted her key and started to walk over to the door that was engraved on the keychain.

Unlocking the door, Patty entered the room, and approached the bedside table and switched on the light. The room was rather large for one person. Two large sized beds were against one wall and along the opposite wall, an empty bookshelf, and desk had been placed. At the very end of the room were two doors; one she assumed was a closet, and the other a bathroom.

Ignoring the existing doors, Patty went over and picked up the suitcase and heaved it onto one of the beds.

Seconds later, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a soft knock could be heard from the one of the doors. She turned towards the door where the sound had originated and hesitantly approached it.

Upon pulling it open, she gasped when she saw Phil standing on the other side. “I thought that was just a closet.”

“No, it actually adjoins the two rooms,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you, Patty. I just wanted to say ‘good night’.”

Patty nodded. “Oh, okay. Good night, Phil.”

After they each closed their perspective doors, Patty went over to the spare bed, collected her toiletries, and then went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Finishing, she went over to the empty bed, and pulled back the blankets and sheets. She then crawled beneath the covers and turned off the light. She then allowed her thoughts to drift back to her memories of Anton.

She pondered whether or not this cross country excursion would bring her face to face with him. Were the words that Phil had told her back in Jenkinsville the truth? Was Anton really alive, or was this just another cruel game being played at her expense?

Closing her eyes, she found herself drifting between wakefulness and sleep.

In this state, she could always see her beloved Anton. Now with the possibility that he might still be alive, Patty felt a lump lodging in the back of her throat. “Please, God,” she began to pray softly. “Let him be alive. If I never ask anything more of You; please, let him be alive.”

As these words drifted to the heavens, Patty could feel the tears as they effortlessly streamed from beneath her eyes. Not caring if anyone heard her or not, she allowed the emotions to carry her along.

Moments later, she drifted to sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

The following day dawned with the sun rising over the small hotel where Patty and Phil were staying. As the sunlight streamed into the room, she slowly opened her eyes and began to rub her face before crawling out of bed. From outside, she could hear the sounds of dogs barking and birds singing. Getting to her feet, she stretched herself out before walking slowly towards the door that led into the bathroom.

After using it, she returned to the main part of the room and began to rummage around in the suitcase on the neighboring bed. I’ll shower first and then see if Phil is awake, she thought as she grabbed the clothes she would need for the day, went into the bathroom, and closed the door behind her.

Ten minutes later she emerged, her long brown hair wet and hanging limply down over her shoulders. This dampened the top collar of the summer dress that she had chosen to wear, but she figured that with the heat, it would probably dry out once she had gone outside. As she was combing her hair, she went over and tapped lightly on the door leading into the adjoining room.

When it eventually opened, she found herself looking up at Phil who was now dressed in a short sleeved shirt and pair of khaki colored slacks. He was holding a map in one hand and was trying rather clumsily at getting it folded back up.

“Good morning, I was just going to see if you were awake,” he offered as he lowered the map and motioned for her to come into the room. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby,” she said honestly. “It’s strange for me to say since I’ve never liked sleeping in hotel rooms.” Phil nodded as she continued speaking. “I guess I didn’t realize how tired I was.”

“It’s the heat that does that I think. It makes you feel like you’ve crawled out from under a rock or something,” he said. “I noticed last night when got here that there’s a diner on the premises. Maybe we should consider going there for breakfast before hitting the road. That way we can eat something substantial while we figure out the quickest way to Buffalo.”

“That’s a good idea,” Patty agreed. “I’m pretty hungry.”

“Is your room locked?” He asked.

“Uh-huh, I just showered and got dressed,” she nodded and without thinking they both exited through the door that led out of his room.

As they were coming outside, they both realized almost instantly that that had been a mistake. Along the perimeters of the property, several of the locals were outside and some were now staring at them. “Maybe next time you should exit through your room and I’ll exit from mine,” Phil mused.

Patty nodded as her gaze came to rest on the local ladies who were now regarding them through critical eyes and shaking heads. “Judgmental old bats,” the young woman swore under her breath.

After some moments had passed, she broke into an evil grin as she wound one of her arms around Phil’s shoulder. “Come on Daddy,” she said loudly enough for them to hear. “There’s some griddle cakes with my name on them.”

Phil’s expression instantly registered shock and then relaxed. He figured that the old women of this town would never believe it, but recovering quickly, he offered a slight nod, all the while understanding that Patty’s intentions were to get rid of the gossiping locals.

As the women began to disperse, he started to chuckle despite himself. Leaning over, he ruffled Patty’s hair and led her towards the door leading into the diner.

Once inside and they had been seated in a semi isolated corner booth, Patty raised her head and looked at him. “I’m sorry about that, but I really didn’t anticipate something like that happening. I figured that being a visitor here; there wouldn’t be any sort of gossip circulating. I guess I was wrong.”

“It’s a small town,” Phil said. “It happens all over and in more places than you can imagine.”

“Yeah, I should have known that this town would be just like Jenkinsville,” she grumbled. “I hate small towns; you can’t sneeze without some busybody trying to wipe your nose for you.”

“It’s the curse of small towns, I’m afraid,” he agreed. “They really have nothing better to do with their time, so to pass it; they get involved in everyone else’s business.”

“Did you grow up in one?” Patty asked. “A small town I mean?”

It was at that moment when she had come to realize that while she was traveling across the country with this man, she knew next to nothing about him. What were his favorite foods? How had he been as a little boy? Did he have brothers and sisters? The questions began to curse through her mind, but instead of asking, she waited for him to respond to her initial inquiry.

“No, I grew up in Atlanta,” he responded.

“What was it like?” She asked.

“Big,” he said smiling. “Sometimes it felt too big. But, between you and me, Jenkinsville is far too small for my taste.”

“For mine too,” Patty agreed.

“So does that mean that you were planning on leaving anyway?” He asked.

“I figured that eventually I would,” she said with a nod of her head. “I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do, though.”

“Why not write?”

“For the Jenkinsville Press?” She asked.

“No, there are more publications than a four page paper outlining flea markets and church bake sales,” Phil said.

“That’s true. My grandparents did say before I left that I could always move in with them.”

“They’re the folks from Memphis, right?”

“Yeah,” Patty nodded as she began to consult the menu.

Moments later, a woman dressed in a pale tan colored dress approached their table. She carried a notepad and pencil and spoke to them, her voice emerging between the chewing gum that she was loudly smacking on. “Good mornin’, my name’s Flo. What can I get for ya?”

Patty raised her head. “I’d like some griddle cakes.”

“Well then you’re in luck,” Flo said smiling. “The special today is pancakes with maple syrup and coffee for fifty cents.”

“That sounds good,” Phil said following Patty’s lead. “We’ll take two specials.”

Flo nodded and left the table.  
Once they were alone again, Phil took a deep breath. “You ever notice how every diner in these small towns seem to have at least one waitress named Flo?”

“It’s a pretty common name for these parts,” Patty said. “There’s a Flo in the Jenkinsville diner too.”

“I remember her,” he said. “She had that fire engine red hair and freckles across the bridge of her nose.”

“The hair color wasn’t natural,” Patty said. “That’s the usual style from Miz Reeves, though. If it had been up to her, every single woman in Jenkinsville would have worn their hair like that. My mother seemed rather convinced that Miz Reeves was a miracle worker, but only on everyone else. She always went to Wynne City to get her hair done, but would force me to go to Miz Reeves. Later, I started to wear my hair in such a way that my mother couldn’t object to it, and Miz Reeves and her styling options became passé.”

Nodding, he pulled out the map and started to unfold it. Once he had done that, he spread it across the table. Instead of continuing to discuss hairstyles, he took a deep breath and spoke. “I need to gage our route for today. I figured that we should cover a few hundred miles at least depending on how many stops we have to make along the way. Right now we’re in Trimble,” he pointed to a small speck on the map that was situated in northwestern Tennessee. “I’m rather hopeful that today we get as far as Louisville, Kentucky.”

Patty glanced over to where Phil was pointing and shrugged her shoulders. “That’s pretty far away; it’s clear on the other side of the state. We’re not even out of Tennessee yet.”

“It’s not that far to the state line, maybe twenty or thirty miles,” Phil said. “And we are getting an earlier start today. Keep in mind that we only left Jenkinsville yesterday in the early evening so we didn’t get much ground covered last night.”

Patty nodded as the waitress returned and impatiently waited until they had moved the map aside to place two plates and two cups on the table in front of them. “Enjoy,” she said as she left them again.

Once the waitress was gone, Patty reached for a cream pitcher that was in the center of the table. After pouring a generous amount into her cup, she reached for the sugar, but not before her gaze came to rest on something in the far back corner of the diner.

Instead of speaking of what specifically she had observed, she picked up her fork and using the side of it, began to cut into the pancakes.

~~~~~

Once she had finished eating, Patty looked across the table at Phil, who had just lowered his own fork and was reaching for his half-emptied cup. As he was taking a sip, she spoke. “I’ll be right back; I’m just going to make a quick phone call.”

Instead of speaking, Phil merely nodded and lowered his cup back onto the table before reaching for the map.

The agent had no idea who Patty intended on calling, but watching her made him realize rather quickly that there was absolutely no denying the look of determination on the young woman’s face. He watched as she approached the nondescript pay phone that was along one of the diner’s walls and picked up the receiver.

~~~~~

Upon dialing ‘0’, Patty waited for someone to pick up the line. When they did, she began to speak. “Good morning, is this directory assistance?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I’m trying to find the number for Frederick Anton Reiker who I think might be in Buffalo New York,” Patty began.

“Hold the line please,” emerged almost instantly. After several seconds the woman was back on the line. “The closest listing we have is for one F. A. Reiker at 716-555-9837.”

Patty nodded as she grabbed a napkin and scribbled the number on it. Once she had done so, she thanked the operator and hung up.

Could all this really be as easy as I think? She asked herself as she extracted several nickels from her pocket and shifted her attention back to the phone.

As she was doing this, she reached for the receiver, picked it up, and dropped the first coin into the slot before dialing. Seconds later, the sound of the phone ringing could be heard and when it was picked up she gasped upon hearing a soft but familiar voice saying ‘hello?’.

Without saying a word, she hung up the phone before glancing over towards the table where Phil sat hunched over a map. He had apparently not seen what had just transpired.

Stuffing the napkin back into the front pocket of her dress, Patty could suddenly feel the tears catching beneath her eyes.

~~~~~

Upon hearing the gasp after answering the phone, Anton stood staring down at the telephone receiver that rested in his hand. How strange is that? He asked himself. It was abundantly clear that someone had been there. He had heard the quick exhalation of breath before the resounding click.

Could it be that Margaret was calling to tell him that she had reconsidered my proposal? He asked himself.

Oddly enough, that no longer mattered to him. He was more than determined to put that aspect of his life behind him. After all, he had decided that on that day, he would go to his boss and turn in his resignation. This would not be a warmly welcomed thing, but given Anton’s current station in life, he honestly didn’t care all that much either way.

His thoughts drifted back to Patty. He had been thinking a lot about her during these past few weeks. Perhaps it was because she was now eighteen and considered an adult. He had asked himself almost constantly about whether or not things would be as he remembered. Could he return to Jenkinsville and find her still there? Would she remember that summer? Would she hate him for having left her?

There was little doubt in his mind about the fate of his friend. The FBI had surely found out what his young friend had done for him. Government agencies were pretty smart, and whatever they did not know back then, they surely knew now.

Standing up, he went back into his bedroom and made his way over to the closet before opening the door. Retrieving his garments for the day, he tossed them onto the bed as his thoughts began to drift yet again.

My time is America is winding down and it would be selfish of me to try and reenter PB’s life. She has surely moved on and it is naïve for me to hope that she might accept my presence. I have to go home; I have to see my family again. That is where I belong and there is no way that I can continue to believe in fairy tales of happily ever after. It is time for me to grow up and do what I should have done years ago.

With new determination bubbling up inside of him, Anton got dressed.


	7. Chapter 6

After hanging up the phone, Patty took a deep breath and started to walk back over to the table. Phil’s words about Anton as well as the call to Buffalo had confirmed everything that she had hoped to discover. Anton was alive, that had been his voice on the other end of the line. She instinctively touched the pocket where his phone number was tucked away. Even with that knowing, she knew that she was now at a loss as to what to do next.

As Phil finished his coffee, she sat back down at the table; her elbows coming to rest against the wooden surface. The half filled coffee cup next to her right arm was now completely forgotten.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked, his expression now laced with concern.

“Yeah,” she whispered as she lowered her head and allowed her hair to cover her eyes. This kept him from seeing the emotional state that she was now in.

“Patty, what is it?” He eventually asked. “What has happened?”

“What makes you so sure something has happened?” She responded to his question with one of her own.

“Well, for one thing, you were fine when you excused yourself just now,” he responded softly. “Now, you look as though you’ve lost your best friend.”

Instead of waiting for her to respond, he stood up, pulled some money from his pocket, and dropped it on the table before reaching for her arm and urging her to her feet. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We can talk about this in the car.”

She nodded and allowed him to help her stand up. Once she was on her feet, they wove their way between the tables and made their way outside. As they were leaving neither of them paid any attention to the judgmental stares of the locals.

~~~~~

On the highway some twenty minutes later, Phil looked at her briefly, all the while trying to keep his gaze on the road that stretched out before them. “You gonna tell me what happened back there?”

Patty took a deep breath, but responded to his question in the simplest way she could. “You were right about Anton being alive.”

“You weren’t sure before, were you?” He asked.

“Not really,” she confessed.

“So, how did you reach the conclusion that I was telling the truth?”

Patty took a deep breath as she began to speak. “When we came into the diner earlier, I saw a phone along one of the walls and decided to try and find out if what you had told me in Jenkinsville had been the truth. I’m sorry for doubting your sincerity.”

“I guess I can understand why you did, but that doesn’t explain what happened.”

“It wasn’t a big deal; I just called directory assistance and asked if there was a listing for him in Buffalo,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “They gave me a number for one of the listings and I called it. It was simple as that.”

“I should have thought of that myself,” he mused. “You must think me rather silly and naïve to do a cross country trek to find someone that the operator could have found in five seconds.”

“You can’t think of everything,” Patty said. “Besides, it was a shot in the dark because the listing was for someone named F.A. Reiker. I had no idea that it would be him until I called the number and…” her voice trailed off as she lowered her head.

“…And?”

“He answered,” she whispered. “I knew his voice immediately.”

“…But you couldn’t find the words to talk to him, could you?” He asked.

“I feel so stupid,” she whispered.

“You’re not, you’re just shocked,” he said gently.

“No, I’m a coward.”

“You’re not a coward, Patty,” he insisted. “If it will make you feel any better, when we stop again, I’ll call him and explain what happened.”

“How do you know that he’d listen?”

“I don’t,” he said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. After several moments of silence had passed, he took a deep breath and continued speaking. “Let’s look at this logically. When you called, you didn’t know what was going to happen, you just took a chance. It was a spontaneous move on your part, but it doesn’t mean that he is going to ignore or want nothing to do with you. You should be relieved that he is in Buffalo and that we can probably find his address rather easily when we get there.”

As he was speaking, he signaled to get off the highway. Once he had done so, he drove several miles until he reached a gas station parking lot and pulled into a spot before cutting the motor.

“What are we doing here?” She asked.

“Give me the number, I’m going to try and call him.”

“But what if…” she started.

“…What if? What if? What if?” He interrupted her flow of words with an almost harsh sounding question. “Listen, Patty. You did something very brave six years ago. Anyone with half a brain cell would have argued that your actions were a bit crazy. I don’t understand how you could be afraid of contacting the person you helped six years ago. I think he would be totally grateful if you were to call him. Since you are hesitant about doing so, I have to. For one thing, I’m not afraid to pick up the phone. For another; if I can get you kids together, then that will be the silver lining in this debacle.”

Patty reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out the napkin before handing it to him. “Phil, I'm scared.”

“I know; it’s as though you are standing at a cliff and afraid to jump. Will the parachute open or will you impact the ground?” He smiled. “Believe me, Patty, the parachute is going to open and you will land safely.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Faith,” he said simply as he leaned over and patted her hand gently. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

As he got out of the car, he tried to decide what he would ultimately say to Frederick Anton Reiker. They had once been on opposite sides of the law and the agent knew that he was perhaps not the most endeared person in the eyes of a former prisoner of war.

Sighing, he reached the phone, picked up the receiver, dropped some coins in the slot, and dialed.

~~~~~

At that moment, Anton was putting the last of his papers inside his briefcase when the phone rang in the living room. Instead of continuing what he was doing, he went over to answer the call. I have about ten minutes before I have to leave, he was thinking as he picked up the receiver.

“Hello?” He spoke.

“Is this Frederick Anton Reiker?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“My name is Phil McFee, and I am a friend of Patricia Bergen,” the voice on the other end of the line emerged.

Anton’s expression darkened. “Is this a joke?”

“I’m afraid it’s not.”

“Look, the only Phil McFee I know of is an FBI agent who interrogated me during the war,” Anton said. “It was after I woke up in a hospital bed and saw several armed guards watching me.”

“You remember that long ago?”

“Some things are not easily forgotten,” the stiff response emerged. “What do you want?”

“I assure you that my intentions are only to help. It’s true; I was one of the agents you spoke to six years ago, but my intentions have nothing to do with that. There are a few things that I have to explain. Will you hear me out?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yes, you do,” Phil said firmly. “You are a free man, Mr. Reiker, and you can either hang up the phone right now or you can listen to what it is I have to say. Whatever you decide, you must not forget the young lady who put her life and her freedom on the line for you. Now, what would you prefer? To hear how she is doing or to sit there trying to figure out what the specific reason for my calling you is.”

“Let me get this straight,” he spoke, his voice level. “You’re calling me because of Patty?”

“I am,” Phil responded. “This is not just because she’s your friend, though. She’s also my friend and my sole intention here is to find out whether or not you still consider her to be a friend.”

“I do, but how do I know that this isn’t some kind of trick?” Anton asked. “You would be concerned if you were in my shoes, would you not?”

“I would be, yes, but it’s no trick. We’re no longer enemies you and I. The war is over and the past should be left where it is. Now, I have to tell you about what happened during the past six months. I don’t know all the details of her life, but I do know that Patricia has been through a great deal since you left. I was foolish not to have recognized it before, but I do see it now,” Phil responded. “The truth is; she is not doing so well. She is still contending with the same issues that she was dealing with when she was a kid and I think you know what those issues are.”

“I do, it’s about her relationship with her parents. That situation was anything but ideal,” Anton said softly.

“Yes, and she did finally stand up to them, but even after having done so, she does not fully believe in herself.”

Anton sighed. “I had always hoped that she would discover the good inside of her.”

“In a way she has, but that only happened yesterday,” Phil said truthfully. “You see, she has made the decision to leave home and find her own way.”

“I am left to conclude that she’s with you now, correct?” Anton whispered as he lowered himself onto the sofa.

“Yes she is.” The response was immediate. “There’s still something that you must understand about her, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Before I spoke with her yesterday, she thought you were dead,” Phil said.

“Why in the world would she believe that?”

“It’s a combination of several things. The main reason lies with the activities of my former partner at the bureau. He was using this ca – situation for his own benefit. When he confronted Patty six years ago, he offered up some pretty convincing evidence saying that you had died from a gunshot wound outside of Buffalo. You and I both know that you had recovered from your injuries and were sent back to a prisoner of war camp until the end of the war. I only found out about all of these specifics in January.”

“I see,” Anton whispered. “So, I am left to conclude that Patty was the one who called me earlier today and then hung up. All this time, I believed that it might have been my girlfriend, but it wasn’t. Just answer me one question; why didn’t she say something when she called? All I heard was a gasp and then the line went dead.”

“She was shocked and afraid,” Phil said. “Imagine someone telling you that your best friend had passed on, only to find out later that that person was alive and well. Patty desperately needed someone to prove to her that you were still alive and the only person who could have convinced her of that was you. I suspect that when she heard your voice, it put her in a state of shock.”

“Perhaps, but if she didn’t believe you, why did she choose to come with you?”

“I don’t know,” Phil responded. “When I found out the truth, I wanted to come to Jenkinsville and tell her. Since I found out in early January, I realized that because she hadn’t graduated from high school yet; she’d have been unable to pursue it. It became clear to me once I saw her that she was seeking out any reason, regardless of how remote, to leave. Perhaps that’s why she decided to come with me.”

“Could be,” Anton mused. He remembered how Patty had begged him to take her with him, but had declined because of the extent of danger it posed. “Where are you, exactly?”

“We’re at a gas station several miles outside of Trimble, Tennessee. We’re now on our way to Buffalo.” He paused for a moment before his next words emerged. “I’m hoping that we will reach Louisville, Kentucky by nightfall.”

Anton took a deep breath as he began to wind the cord around his hand. “You must understand that I’m still a bit hesitant about all this. After all, your people have lied to Patty and you’ve lied to me on more than one occasion. How am I to know that this is not just another one of those instances?”

“My mom used to say, ‘let the proof be in the pudding’,” Phil whispered. “If I can get Patty to where you are, then you can decide what is true and what isn’t.”

Before Anton could respond, the operator’s voice emerged. “Please deposit five cents for the next five minutes…”

Anton took a deep breath. “Okay, then perhaps the best way to prove your sincerity would be for you to let me talk to Patty.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible right now, but I can promise that when we get to Louisville, we’ll call you right away. Right now, she’s in the car, and I’m out of nickels. We’ll call you tonight…” His voice drifted into nothingness as the phone line went dead.

Anton took a deep breath and returned it to the cradle. He glanced over at his briefcase and shook his head sadly. There’s no denying that this is just another trick. It’s time for me to do as I intended and return home, he thought as he stood up. Once on his feet, he reached for his jacket as a persistent knock suddenly resonated throughout his small apartment.

Taking a deep breath, he went over to the door and opened it. Within seconds, he was literally bowled over by Margaret, who was standing in the threshold with a joyful expression on her face.

“Anton, dear, sweet, Anton, I have decided to accept your proposal,” she cried out happily as she threw herself into his unsuspecting arms. “Let’s get married. My uncle is going to send us to Vegas on Sunday to tie the knot and then he said that you could work for the company in Germany. Did I tell you, they’re opening a subsidiary there? Uncle Richard went on to say that we could live at my cousin’s apartment building near the army base. We’ve got it all planned out.” Without waiting for him to respond, she began to jump up and down. “I can’t believe it…we’re actually going to get married!”

…Neither can I, he thought as he reluctantly raised his arms and embraced her.

"Tonight at eight, we are due at my parents’ house to have a celebratory glass of champagne,” Margaret continued speaking all the while still in his arms. Despite herself, she began to brush her fingertips seductively through his hair as her enthusiastic words continued. “Oh Anton, I was so wrong about all this. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course, Margaret,” the former P.O.W. said dully. Taking a deep breath, his thoughts began to careen out of control. Now what do I do?


	8. Chapter 7

Phil returned to the car after his conversation with Anton had ended. He wordlessly climbed behind the wheel and closed the door before looking at Patty. She was seated with her shoulders slumped and her head bowed over her lap. She was picking at imaginary lint from off her dress.

Instead of immediately speaking of what had transpired, he started the motor. After several moments had passed, he stopped everything he was doing before reaching over and touching her shoulder. “Patty?”

In lieu of words, she raised her head and silently waited for him to continue.

“I spoke to your friend,” he said simply.

“You did?” She asked.

“Yes, and he knows that this isn’t going to be easy for either one of you,” Phil said. “I don’t think he fully believes what is happening, but I did promise that we would call him from Louisville tonight. Then you can talk to him at length.”

“Did you tell him that I tried to call earlier?” She asked softly.

“No, but he figured it out.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, somehow he just knew,” Phil said.

“What should I say to him?” She asked.

“Just tell him what you’re feeling about all of this,” he said. “You know that’s really all you can do.” He paused for a moment before his next question emerged. “You do want to talk to him, don’t you?”

Patty nodded. “Of course, but the question is; does he want to talk to me?”

“Why would he refuse?” Phil shot back. “He did ask about you, but that was just before I realized that I didn’t have enough nickels to feed the phone.” He smiled gently at her. “There is something that I should probably tell you, though.”

“He’s married, right?” She asked softly.

“He mentioned a girlfriend, but no wife,” Phil said. “The truth is; I don’t want to get your hopes up too high about all of this. It has been six years and things can and often do change in that duration of time. People included.”

“I know,” she said softly. “The truth is, I should be happy that he’s alive and well, but if he is involved in a long-term relationship, then my presence there could complicate things.”

“They could, but I don’t think they will,” he began. “For some reason, I have this feeling that maybe Anton is not particularly happy in his current situation. There was something in his voice that indicated to me that his life has not exactly been ideal.”

In response to these words, Patty began to rub her hands together. “Are you trying to give me rationale for doing this?”

“Perhaps,” he smiled as he offered her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “What I am trying to do is give you an experience that might help you make peace with your past. If we find him then you’ll be able to talk to him and maybe all this effort would have been worth it.”

Patty raised her head and when she saw sincerity in his eyes, she nodded as he continued speaking.

“I know that all this time you thought Reiker was dead, and you resolved yourself to believing in that notion. Now, you are discovering that he’s alive and in choosing to come with me, you are experiencing the things that could only be interpreted as matters of the heart.”

“The heart?” Patty whispered. “I don’t understand.”

“I think you do,” he responded. “Do you love him?”

“Love?” Patty whispered.

“Yes, love, you know that emotion where your heart hangs on another person and you feel as though you’d give your very life for them?” He asked gently. When she glanced over and saw the smile that was now on his face, she reciprocated it, but remained silent. After some moments, he became somewhat exasperated by this and continued. “Oh come on, Patty, I know you’ve heard of it.”

“I’m sorry but what you said just now took me aback. I mean; that comment seemed so out of character for you,” she admitted. “Except for Anton, I’ve never been in love. I remember about a week ago I was walking along the train tracks that led behind my parents’ house. I had stolen a cigarette from my father’s pack and after lighting it, the smoke started to swirl above my head. I guess I sort of found myself lost in the haze because I started to think about what had happened and how it made me feel. I wondered if Anton would have loved the person that I had become. I kept thinking about that old quotation, ‘it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’ But, now, I find out that he’s alive and I wonder if he still remembers what happened…” Her voice trailed as she lowered her head.

“I’m certain that he does, otherwise he would never have behaved on the phone in the manner that he did.”

“What manner is that?”

“Fearful and perhaps a bit mistrusting,” Phil said sadly. “When I spoke to him, he made it very clear that I had, at one time, been his mortal enemy. I accept that, but it was never just about him or me; it’s also about you.”

In response to this, Patty lowered her head only to feel his hand squeezing her shoulder yet again. When she raised her head, his next words literally encased her. “The wounds that you believed to have closed have now been reopened, and you are forced to face your past.”

“You don’t realize how much it hurts to do that,” she whispered. “I mean; it’s not just about going and finding him, but realizing that maybe I’m imposing myself on his life.”

Phil turned to face her. “What about your life?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean if you turned around and went back to Jenkinsville, what would you do? Fade away in your parents’ store only to live in regret? You have a choice to make and you know perfectly well that your conscience is telling you to throw Arkansas to the wind and go find out what exactly happened to Frederick Anton Reiker.”

“Even if I were to decide not to go to Buffalo, I know that I can’t go back to Jenkinsville,” she mused.

“So, for better or worse, you want to keep going?” He asked.

Patty took a deep breath but looked at him with unhidden resolve. “Yes, and even if he does have a girlfriend, then I can wish him well and move on with the rest of my life. At least New York isn’t Jenkinsville.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that staying in Jenkinsville and living with my parents is not what I want to do. Why else do you suppose I made such a rash decision to come along after you offered to drive me to Buffalo?”

“It did surprise me,” he said nodding.

“It surprised me too,” she reiterated. “Besides, Buffalo is big enough that I could start over and not have to worry about people gossiping about me. I can even fade into the background.”

“Are you certain that that is what you want to do?” He asked.

She nodded. “I’m more than certain, Phil, I’m determined.”

“So does that mean we should drive back to the station and I can get some more nickels?”

“No, when we get to Louisville tonight, I’ll call him.”

Agreeing with this plan, Phil pulled the car back onto the street.

~~~~~

The sun was sinking behind the distant trees when they reached Louisville, Kentucky. Patty eyes were drooping slightly as Phil pulled the car into a parking place in front of the building that marked a two-storey hotel. As she was getting out of the car, she looked around and noticed immediately that they were now on the outskirts of a larger city. Distant lights were visible from every direction.

Despite herself, she smiled as she internally compared the present moment to what she had experienced in the small Tennessee town earlier that day. Unlike there, the people here seemed not to care who they were and what their intentions happened to be.

Wordlessly, she followed Phil to the door leading into the lobby of the hotel. The musty smell of cigars greeted them as they entered the cozy lobby. At the far end of the room, a long mahogany colored desk was placed and a middle-aged man was seated in a chair behind it.

As they reached it, the man raised his head and offered a cordial smile. “Howdy, what can I do for you?” He asked.

“Do you have vacancies for a couple of rooms?” Phil asked.

“Sure do,” the man said casually. “All we need are your mailing address in case you forgot something or there’s room damage.”

“We understand,” Patty asked. “How much do you charge for one night?”

“Each room is two dollar fifty and paid in advance,” he responded.

Wordlessly, the young woman handed the man a five dollar bill before they began to fill out the paperwork. While they were doing that the man got up and grabbed two keys from off some hooks on the wall. He waited until they had finished filling out the papers before handing them the keys.

“You’re in rooms 21 and 22. They are upstairs and you can get to them by going back outside and up the stairs along the side of the building.”

Once they had accepted them, and Phil had pocketed his, he looked across the counter at the man and spoke. “Do you have telephones in the rooms?”

“No, but there’s a pay phone here in the lobby,” he said pointing.

Phil nodded as he handed the man a dollar bill. “I need a dollar’s worth of nickels, please.”

“Sure thing,” the man said as he leaned over towards a small cash box, opened it, and counted out twenty nickels before handing them to Phil.

The agent turned and handed the small pile of silver coins to Patty and motioned towards the phone. “Go ahead and call him and if you give me your key, I’ll take your stuff to your room.”

“Thank you,” Patty said as she pulled out her key, looked at the engraved number on it, and then handed it to Phil.

She then watched as he exited out the front door. Turning in the direction that the man had indicated, she spotted the phone and made her way through the lobby towards it. Reaching it and after a quick glance, she noticed that much to her relief, she was alone.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it in the form of a sigh, Patty reached into her pocket, pulled out the small slip of paper, dropped several nickels into the slot, and with trembling hands, she dialed the number.

~~~~~

At that very same moment, Anton had returned to his apartment with Margaret in tow. The woman was frowning when they entered the apartment, her fists tightly clenched and her eyes depicting resentment.

She had not anticipated Anton becoming hostile with her, but that is precisely what had happened. The two of them had spent much of the afternoon in the company of her uncle, and many things were said regarding their common future. Anton had refrained from speaking in the presence of others, but his frustrations were now quite evident and he intended on making his intentions heard that very night.

Of course, Margaret was just as determined to express her own anger before he could do so with her.

“Anton, we need to talk,” she said as the door was closed behind them.

“Indeed we do,” he said firmly, and taking a deep breath, he tried to gather his thoughts. “I know that you care about me, Margaret.”

“I do, Anton, I thought it was clear when I went to my uncle and spoke on your behalf.”

“I didn’t want you to speak on my behalf. I wanted to you allow me to be a man and make my own decisions. It bothers me greatly that you have taken it upon yourself to go behind my back and speak with your uncle.”

“But, I want you to be able to stay in America. You wouldn’t be happy back in Germany. You saw the pictures; the place is in a disastrous state.”

“Perhaps, but you are forgetting something very important. My family is still there, and I want to see them again,” Anton said. “To deny me that right is not only selfish; it’s unfair.”

“You do realize they could be dead for all you know,” she said without thinking.

As silence filled the room, she looked at Anton and what she saw was pain and sorrow etched in his gaze. He had opted to not even responding to those words and instead, she decided that her next words would have to be laced in feigned sensitivity. “Look, it may not seem like it, but I do understand how important this is to you.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, that’s why I talked to my uncle,” she argued. “I only did what I did so that we could be happy.”

“So we could be happy, or so you could be happy?” He asked softly. Before she could respond, he continued. “How can I be happy when you are deciding everything for me? I’m not a child and yet, you have already mapped out my life. You never even asked me, not even once, what I wanted or if I was even in agreement with it.”

“I thought it was what you wanted,” she argued.

Anton shook his head slowly. “It wasn’t. You assumed all this time that you knew better.”

At that moment, the phone rang and he started to walk towards it. What he did not anticipate was for her to reach over and snatch it up. “Hello?”

She waited several seconds for the caller to identify themselves, but when they did not even speak, she took the incentive. “Who is this?”

When still no answer emerged, her impatience became all the more apparent. “Look, I’ll have you know that these sorts of pranks went out of style in grade school.”

“I’d like to speak with Anton, please,” the soft feminine voice eventually emerged.

“Oh you would?” Margaret snapped, the jealousy suddenly taking over. “Care to tell me what this is in regards to?”

“No, because what I have to say doesn’t concern you.”

“Well, you’re wrong, it does concern me,” she spat out. “I am his fiancé and I have the right to know.”

“Y-you’re his fiancé?” The voice asked, but laced in the enquiry was unmistakable skepticism.

Hearing this, Margaret’s temper flared. “Whatever you have to say to him you can just as easily say to me.”

“Alright, please tell him that I’m an old friend of his and I just want to talk to him for a few minutes.”

At that moment, Anton had reached where she was standing and extended his hand out towards the telephone receiver. “Please give me the phone, Margaret,” he said softly.

Ignoring him, Margaret shook her head. “I’ll just bet you’re an old friend,” she hissed. “You probably want nothing more than to catch up on old times and stake your claim on him.”

“No,” the voice emerged immediately on the defensive. “That wasn’t it at all; I just want to talk to him. Please…”

Hearing the desperation in the very last word, Anton started to grab for the phone. “P.B.,” he whispered under his breath, his determination evident when he reached under one of her arms and tried to grab the phone out of her hand.

Seeing his actions, Margaret’s distrust and enmity grew. “Forget it!” She shouted into the phone before her next words emerged. “Don’t ever call this number again!”

With that, she slammed down the phone so loudly that for a split second one could hear the ringer inside it.

Lowering his arms, Anton looked at her, his blue gray eyes wide and his expression unreadable. He watched as she backed away from the phone and reaching for the receiver, he picked it up carefully. He hoped that the connection was still there, but when he heard the dial tone, he slowly lowered it to the cradle.

“Why did you do that?” He eventually spoke, his voice taking on an assertiveness that she had never even heard before.

The affronted woman took a deep breath as she looked at him, all the while trying to stand her ground. “You know why.”

“No, I don’t,” he said softly, “but I can surmise that you’re jealous of someone you’ve never even met,” a pause. “The person you hung up on saved my life. If it weren’t for her you wouldn’t have had someone to push around for the past year.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about, but just in case you’re wondering, I’m going to make something perfectly clear. This is my home, such that it is, and you do not live here. You have absolutely no right to answer my phone or disallow someone from speaking to me if they happen to call here. The fact that you have done this shows me far more about your lack of character than I could have surmised.”

He walked over to the front door and opened it, his free hand motioning for her to leave. “I think you should go now.”

“Anton, you can’t mean that,” she objected.

“I do mean it,” he said evenly. “If you cannot trust me, then I see very little point to the continuation of this relationship. Please, go.”

“What does this mean for us?” She asked.

“It means that I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago,” he said firmly. “I’m going to leave Buffalo; alone. Good-bye Margaret.”

Defeated, Margaret exited through the front door. Once she had stepped outside, he pushed it closed behind her.

Once she was gone, Anton took a deep breath as he lowered his head and stared down at the floor. “Forgive me, P.B.,” he whispered under his breath. “Please, forgive me.”


	9. Chapter 8

Patty stood with the receiver still in her hand after the line had gone dead. Her eyes were filled with sadness as she stared down at it.

After several moments had passed and she remained unmoving; a stranger’s voice suddenly broke into her thoughts. “If you please, miss, I’d like to use the phone. Are you finished?”

Instead of immediately responding, she slowly turned around and found herself looking into the friendly blue eyes of a man who looked as though he had stepped out of a Victorian age drama. The most outstanding feature was his height. He was considerably taller than she and dressed in tunic and matching britches. His hair was long and hung down over his shoulders, the silvery gray color rather distinctive and in her opinion, quite stunning.

Instead of commenting on this, Patty returned the receiver to the cradle and backed away from the phone. “Yes, sir, I-I’m finished.” She then walked slowly away, but instead of going outside and up to her room; she opted to seating herself in one of the armchairs and trying to sort out her feelings.

Deep down inside, she knew that upon her return, Phil would immediately ask her how it went. The FBI agent had proven himself to be more than cordial with her, but she wondered if he would really be willing to listen to even more teenage angst. If truth were known, Patty could understand Phil’s inherent curiosity, but she also felt an uncanny sense of fear about the prospect of calling the number again.

Across the room, she lowered herself onto one of the chairs and allowed her head to rest against the soft cushions that now supported her tired body.

After several moments had passed, her thoughts began to drift freely. I’m not always intimidated by people, or am I? She asked herself. Am I really so weak that I would allow myself to be talked down to by another woman? Anton never seemed the type to let someone like this into his life…or maybe I just didn’t know him as well as I thought I did. What if he used me back when I was kid? I protected him and he claimed that I saved his life, but how can I be sure? As these thoughts continued, she realized that the tears could not be kept at bay. They freely began their trek down both of her cheeks.

Moments later, she suddenly heard soft footfalls coming towards her and before she could react to it, a cloth handkerchief was pressed gently into her hand.

Nodding gratefully, but keeping her head down, she began to wipe the object across her face before looking up.

When she finally did, the person she saw surprised her. Instead of seeing Phil McFee standing before her, she found herself looking into the kind blue eyes of the man she had briefly encountered over by the telephone. Apparently, he had finished his call and instead of leaving the room, he had come over to where she was seated.

“Would it be an imposition if I sat with you for a few moments?” He asked; his voice gentle.

Patty shrugged her shoulders noncommittally, but her attention returned to her lap.

Taking this as an affirmative response, the man seated himself beside her and began to rub his hands calmly together. When she did not speak, he eventually took the incentive. “I think perhaps my initial statement to you was not as helpful as it could have been. I ask that you please excuse me.”

“There’s no need,” she said softly. “You had every right to use the phone. I was just in the way.”

“That’s not really the response I was expecting,” he responded as he rested his elbows on his knees.

“What response were you expecting?” Patty asked, carefully using his wording in her inquiry.

“I suppose I was awaiting the obvious, that you were slightly stunned,” he said honestly. “You looked as though you had lost your best friend.”

“I think maybe I did,” she whispered more to herself than to him. Instead of saying anything further, she pressed the corner of the handkerchief beneath her eyes to remove the remaining tears.

The man reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder. When she raised her head and looked at him, he took a deep breath. “I fear that there are no adequate words I could say that would ease the sorrow you are experiencing right now. That is to say that you stood there looking quite forlorn and very unhappy; is that not so?”

Patty raised her head, but instead of speaking, she slowly nodded.

“I do not wish to cause you any additional grief, but I could not help but overhear you on the phone just now,” he said gently. “It is not my intention to pry into your affairs, but I realized that it may not be acceptable for me to leave you in here all by yourself. You are in Louisville alone, are you not?”

“N-no, I’m actually here with a friend. I just d-didn’t want to burden him with my problems,” she whispered. “I figured that if I had a few minutes alone I could sort things out before going to my room.”

He nodded. “I see, so one can easily conclude that you are trying to be a good friend by not weighing down another with your troubles. Is that it?”

Patty shrugged her shoulders, but in lieu of words, she eventually offered a defeated nod.

The man nodded as his next words emerged. “Have you perhaps considered the notion that by not speaking of this dilemma with your friend, that you are, in fact, bringing undue harm upon yourself?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I guess I didn’t want to be a nuisance. I mean; I don’t know him very well and I…” Her voice trailed off.

“…I see, but, you do realize that the burden you are carrying is emotionally killing you.” He took a deep breath as his next words emerged. “That is tragic for one so young.”

Patty looked at him. “I’m 18.”

“I rest my case,” he said simply.

“Are you a psychologist or something?” She asked weakly.

“No,” he said shaking his head.

“What do you do?” She asked. “I mean; besides opening up deep conversations with complete strangers.” For a split second, she had forgotten her own problems because she was now somewhat captivated by the man seated beside her. 

“I fear that it would take a good deal of time for me to explain what it is I do specifically.”

“I’ve got time,” she said. At least enough time to keep me from explaining something to Phil that I don’t understand myself, she added silently.

The man took a deep breath, and releasing it slowly, he looked at her. “You are a very inquisitive young lady…” he began.

“…Only when I’m interested,” she said. Suddenly, she realized that the words were out before she could even stop them. Abruptly, she was brought back to a time when she had told Anton the very same thing. At least I know that this person can’t hurt me emotionally, she thought sadly. He’s an old man.

As these painful thoughts filtered through her mind, the suppressed emotions began to get the better of her. Tears formed and stung the corners of her eyes and she soon felt them escaping.

The man took a deep breath as he reached for the handkerchief that was now resting in her hand. He picked it up and used to wipe the tears from one of her cheeks. When she raised her own to finish the task, he began to speak, his confession soft. “I heard much of what you said on the phone, or in this case, what you were trying to say. It would seem that I am perhaps in a position to render assistance.”

“Really?” She whispered. “How?”

“It is quite easy,” he replied. “I saw much of myself in you. Now, this assertion might take a while for me to explain, but I have been able to see it, even though I am only meeting you for the very first time this night.”

By this time, Patty’s thoughts were literally racing. She had so often despised being in a place where others could read her so well. Now she was speaking with a man who seemed to say and do all the things that showed the level of vulnerability that she was experiencing. Instead of responding, she started to get to her feet.

Without any sort of warning, he reached out towards her. “Please, don’t go. I only wish to help you.”

Patty nodded, but opted to distancing herself from him. Instead of leaving, she went around the coffee table and seated herself across from him. After several moments of silence passed between them, she looked over at him. “H-how could you tell so much about me?”

“I believe that the proper response to your inquiry will be revealed in due course,” he said. “Perhaps it might help for you to hear about an old man’s experiences. Would you accept that or do you not have the time?”

“I have time,” she whispered. “I-I just don’t understand how or why you even…care.”

He smiled and nodded. “You’d be surprised at how many people actually do care. Not everyone who shows concern is doing it for the wrong reasons. I know that it seems rather odd for me to take such interest in you, but I do. Now, would you permit me to ask, what you do when you see a small child about to make the same mistake that you made once.”

“I guess I try to help them to not make a mistake.”

“Exactly, and I am doing the same,” he said. “But in order for me to fully explain, I must tell you about myself.” Before she could respond, he continued speaking. “First, I want you to look at me for a moment and tell me what you see.”

Patty raised her head and looked into the eyes of the man seated across from her. “I’m not sure what you mean, but there’s something very wise about you. I guess if there wasn’t, I would have already left.”

“Is that all you see?” He asked.

“No, not really,” she said honestly. “I’ve never had a hard time talking to people before, but you’re different. I know that you’re trying to challenge me to talk about what happened. I just don’t know if I can.”

“Is your hesitancy about it because I’m a stranger?” He asked.

“In part; but it’s also because I really don’t know myself,” she whispered. “I don’t think I can face it.”

“But, you are facing it. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you weren’t. Don’t you see how simple the choice is? It lies in either running away or staying and talking about it.”

Patty shrugged her shoulders but looked away from him as her words emerged. “Sometimes it does feel like I am running away.”

He shook his head. “You’re not. Will you tell me what happened? I won’t tell anyone, and realistically, who could I tell?”

Patty took a deep breath. “I think I’m in love with someone, and it hurts.”

He nodded. “I see, and this person doesn’t reciprocate your affections.”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him in a really long time,” she said. “I guess I had hoped that he would, but realistically, that didn’t happen and I’m wondering why I’m even going to see him.”

“Perhaps it would help if I tell you about something that happened to me when I was your age. Would you like to hear about it? It might help.”

She nodded.

“Alright, I can only ascertain that you have recognized that I am not American,” he began.

“I sort of noticed that,” she confessed. “I just can’t place your accent.”

“I grew up south of London at around the turn of the century,” he responded as he began to rub his fingertips against his chin.

“You don’t look that old,” she mused.

He smiled appreciatively at her honest words but instead of acknowledging them, he continued. “I lived during the glorious time of Queen Victoria’s reign and it was quite an exciting time in history. In fact, I would not trade that time of my life for anything in the world, not even with the heartache that was to come.”

“How did you end up here?” She asked.

“That comes later,” he said smiling. “I was born and raised a commoner, my parents from an honest working-class family. This complicated matters when I fell in love with a lady of the court. She was a beautiful lass, about two years younger than I and the object of affection by many a suitor. I worshipped her from afar and it would soon reveal itself to me that my passivity would be the reason that I failed to win her affections.”

“You don’t seem very passive to me,” Patty whispered. “Quite the contrary, actually.”

“I changed a great deal in the past fifty years. The truth is, I never told the lady of my affections and soon she had become betrothed to another. I recall hearing this and falling deep into despair. Have you any idea how terrible it is to not react to something because you are afraid of the outcome?”

“Yes sir, I do,” Patty whispered.

The man reached over and touched her shoulder. “No, not ‘sir’, please, just call me James.”

“Okay.”

“Now, before I continue, perhaps you would tell me your name.”

“Patty,” she offered freely. At that moment, her thoughts were ravaging her. Could I tell James the whole story in exchange? She asked herself. He is being so open and kind with me; and it’s nice to have someone besides Phil to talk to.

After several moments had passed between them, she finally looked up and spoke; her words laced in sadness. “The lady you speak of married the other person, didn’t she?”

James nodded. “Yes, she married him. Soon after the wedding, I decided to leave London and came to America. My parents had died and I wanted to start over. I finished my studies and then took a job teaching history at the university. I specialized in the renaissance and even started recording music from that time period.”

“You’re a history professor?” She asked.

“I was. Three years ago, I retired and went into music full time,” he said. “That’s why I’m dressed in this fashion.”

“Did you ever marry?”

“No, I couldn’t, it was far too painful for me to do so. You see, when you love someone, oftentimes you cannot force yourself to love another in the very same way. The woman I loved was killed about ten years ago. Her daughter wrote to me and told me that her father, in a jealous rage committed this heinous crime. Upon hearing this, I felt such guilt and remorse.”

“But James, it wasn’t your fault,” she whispered.

“It was,” he whispered. “You see, if only I had done what I had been too afraid to do. I would have married my love and she would have been happy.”

“I still don’t see how you could have been to blame for this. It’s terrible what happened and what you went through,” Patty said softly. “I was jealous of my sister and later, I realized that it was a foolish way to be.”

“Yes jealously is always foolish,” he said. “Yet, you encountered that tonight, didn’t you?”

Patty swallowed, but nodded. “When I wanted to call him, she picked up the phone, but wouldn’t let me talk to him.”

“Who is ‘she’?” He asked.

“She said that she was his fiancée,” she whispered.

“Is he worth fighting for, Patty?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

He dug in his pocket, pulled out a nickel, and held it up in front of her. “Then call him again, and this time you must insist that you speak with him.”

“But, what if she’s there?” She asked weakly. “She won’t even let me talk to him.”

“Then I will call him, what is his name?” He responded as he stood up.

“Anton.”

“Then come, it is time for you to put all this pain behind you. Speak with him and do not allow yourself to live in the same uncertainty that I did.”

Patty nodded and got to her feet and followed him over to the phone. She handed him the number and watched as he picked up the receiver, dropped a nickel into the slot and began to dial. Finishing, he returned the slip of paper to her and waited.

Seconds later, it was picked up. “Hello?”

“Am I speaking with Anton?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“My name is James, and I think there is someone here who wishes to speak with you,” he said and without another word, he handed the telephone to Patty. “He’s there you can talk to him now.”

Gratefully, Patty accepted the phone and placed the receiver up against her ear. “A-Anton?”

“Yes,” his soft voice emerged. “Is that you P.B.?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” she whispered.

“Are you really with Agent McFee right now?”

“No, he’s in his room,” she said.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he said. “I was so afraid that you wouldn’t want to talk to me.”

“I had to hear everything for myself,” she said somewhat stiffly. “If you really are engaged and why that woman wouldn’t let me talk to you.”

“It would take far too long to explain, where are you now?”

“Louisville, Kentucky, we’re on our way to Buffalo, but stopped off here to spend the night.”

“Patty, I was intending on leaving Buffalo…” he began.

“…But, you can’t,” she interrupted. “We’re on our way. We just stopped here to get some rest. We’ll be back on the road tomorrow.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” he scolded gently. “I’m going to wait until you get here. I’m just glad that in the wake of everything you called me back.”

“I had to, even though I was afraid,” she began. “That woman made it pretty clear that you were not interested in seeing me.

“She was wrong,” he began. “Listen, I’ll tell you everything when you get here. I felt so horribly about what happened.”

“It was James who convinced me to try. He told me about something that happened to him, and I guess he didn’t want it to happen to someone else,” she said openly. As if on cue, she glanced back in the direction of where James had been standing. Upon seeing that he was no longer in the proximity, she returned her focus to the phone. “I guess he decided to leave so that we could talk. It’s strange that he showed up when he did.”

“Sometimes people will pass through our lives and prove themselves to be the greatest of teachers,” Anton said softly as the operator suddenly came on the line indicating that their time was up. “Patty, stay safe and we’ll see each other very soon.”

“I love you, Anton,” she whispered. “I always have.”

“See you soon, Liebling,” he whispered as the line went dead.

After she hung up, she scanned the room looking for James. More than anything, she wanted to thank him for his help and kindness, but after searching further, she discovered that he was gone.


	10. Chapter 9

The lobby was now empty except for the man who was still seated at the check-in desk. Instead of approaching him, Patty decided to return to her room and let Phil know that she had finally gotten the chance to speak briefly with Anton.

Stepping outside, she drew nearer to the stairs that led up one side of the building. Reaching it, she took a deep breath as she began her ascent. At the landing, she walked slowly down the corridor until she reached room 22 and raising her hand, she knocked.

After a few moments had passed and no one had answered, she moved to the next door with the 21 on it and repeated the same action. Seconds later the door swung open and she raised her head until her eyes met those of Phil McFee.

“Hey, I was just going to come down and look for you,” he said as he backed away from the door and allowed her entry.

“Sorry, everything just took a little bit longer than I thought it would,” she said as she entered and the door was closed behind her.

The first words to emerge from Phil were expected, but still made her hesitant. “So, did you talk to him?”

“Yes,” she began; her single word unusually soft.

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” he responded as if on cue. “I take it that something happened while you were downstairs.”

“How can you tell?”

“Easy, I know when people either have bad news or are trying to evade an issue,” he said.

“I’m not trying to do any of those things; I’m just trying to figure out what happened,” she responded.

“Alright,” he conceded. “I can understand that.”

When she did not respond, he momentarily looked away before returning his attention to her. As he did this, his next words emerged. “I think you know that the reason for my prying is that I’m only trying to be a good friend. I know that given our history, that seems rather impossible, but it is the truth.”

“I know, but I’m just confused right now,” she said honestly. In the recesses of her mind, however, she was trying to make heads or tails of her mysterious conversation with James. “It just feels strange somehow. I mean; it’s like I’ve been spending more time explaining myself to other people than in understanding myself. It just seems like every person I meet can read me like a dime store novel.”

“Well, if t makes you feel any better, reading people is actually a part of my job,” Phil said. “It just goes with the territory.”

Instead of responding, she shrugged her shoulders noncommittally and waited for his next words to emerge.

“Maybe, it would help if you were to just tell me what happened.”

Patty took a deep breath. “Did Anton know that I was going to call him?”

“I mentioned that we would try and call him tonight,” he said casually. “I’m not sure if he heard me, though.”

“Why?”

“Well, we were cut off right after I made the promise, so there’s a chance that I could have made it to thin air.”

Patty nodded as she wrung her hands together. “Well, after you left the lobby, I called him, but he didn’t answer the phone. His fiancé did.”

“That’s strange,” he mused as he sat down on the bed and watched her take a seat on the chair in front of the desk.

“What? That he had a fiancé?”

“Not that, it just seems strange because he told me that he had a girlfriend, but the way he spoke of her was with a certain amount of indecision.”

“You mean maybe she decided that he was her fiancé and he had no say in the matter?” Patty asked.

“That could very well be what happened, unless you could imagine him getting engaged four, maybe five, hours after that initial call.” Phil said. “If you want my honest opinion, I don’t think he was all that interested in marrying her at all.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know, maybe it was not so much the wording he used, but the way he said ‘girlfriend’. It sounded like he was questioning the relationship or where it was going.”

“But he still called her his ‘girlfriend’, right?” Patty asked.

“Yes, but like I said, he seemed to do so with some element of distaste.”

“Then maybe her answering the phone was a mistake. Maybe James had been right all along.”

“James? Who’s James?”

“He’s just some guy who was in the lobby while I was trying to figure out what to do after making the initial call and she had told me not to call the number again. I guess I stood there in a daze trying to figure out what had just happened when he came over and asked me if I was finished using the phone. After he was done, he came over to where I was sitting and said that he had overheard my half of the conversation.”

“So what specifically did this woman say to you?”

“Not very much, she just refused to let me talk to him. I could hear him in the background though, but I’m not sure if he could actually hear me. I kept hearing ‘give me the phone’, but then the more he spoke, the angrier she got.”

“So how did it come about that you got to speak with your friend?”

“James convinced me not to give up. I remember thinking about saying that I would give up and ask you to take me to Memphis instead of going back to Jenkinsville. He told about how when he was younger that he fell in love and because he refused to take a chance, he missed out on the love of his life. Something in what he was telling me made things more clear. Phil, I stayed in there and talked to James for twenty minutes because I needed a few moments to figure out what it was I wanted to do.”

Phil nodded as his gaze shifted and he glanced towards the window. Instead of speaking, he waited for her to continue.

“I know that you want to help, but I needed a more objective opinion. Having someone who was not directly involved helped me to find some sense of clarity. I had to find a way to discover what my heart was telling me to do. As he was talking to me, I sort of wondered what would have happened if I had left the room right after she hung up on me.”

“Maybe you would be planning to go back to Memphis first thing tomorrow,” he mused.

“That’s what you would have suggested, right?”

He shrugged his shoulders as he took a deep breath. “In all honesty, I don’t know what I would have said,” he eventually offered. “Maybe I would have. There are just some things that aren’t worth the trouble.”

“But, some things are,” she said as she raised her head and looked at him. “I realized when I was in there that I do still love him and I can’t give up on him. I have to see him at least one more time and tell him to his face that I still have these feelings and they won’t go away. I know that it’s strange but, it’s what I have to do. If I don’t, then I may end up just like James; going through life asking myself ‘what if?’.”

He nodded. “Then essentially, there was a really good reason for you crossing paths with James when you did.”

Patty took a deep breath. “So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“Well, if we keep making good time, we should reach Buffalo the day after tomorrow.” He said. “We still have over 500 miles to go, but I am estimating that we will probably arrive just south of Cleveland by tomorrow night.”

She nodded as she stood up. “Then I guess I should get some sleep so we can get an early start tomorrow.”

He nodded as he leaned over towards the nightstand and grabbed the key that was on top of it. He then sat back up and extended it to her. “Here’s your key, and your stuff is in your room.”

Accepting the offered object, Patty walked over to the door, but stopped just before opening it. “Thanks Phil, for everything.”

He smiled and watched as she left the room.

~~~~~

After hanging up the phone, Anton took a deep breath. Contrary to all the issues that he was contending with, he knew with absolute certainty that Patricia Bergen still loved him.

This alone felt strange to him because he knew that six years had passed, and people do change over the course of time. At the same instance, he wondered how she could still care for him. After all, she had been forced into that awkward confrontation with Margaret. 

He took a deep breath as he turned the light off in the living room and made his way down the hall and into the bedroom.

Now for better or worse, his brave young friend was now on her way to Buffalo. Instead of contemplating the situation further, he changed his clothes before going over to the bed and pulling the blankets aside. Once he did this, he crawled beneath the covers.

Just before turning the light off, a loud knock emerged at his front door. He got up and padded his way out of the room. Instead of turning any of the lights on, he reached the door and silently glanced through the peephole.

Seeing Margaret once again standing outside, he sighed deeply. Why must she persist with this? He asked himself. I have already told her to leave, why won’t she listen?

As the knocks grew louder, this time accompanied with pleas for him to open the door, Anton made the decision that this time he was not going to respond. Instead, he returned to his bedroom and closed the door.

Moments later, he crawled silently in bed, his thoughts now ravaging his mind. I cannot let her back into my life, he thought sadly. For so long, Margaret has tried to control what I said and did, and now she has spoken rudely to someone I care for. I can’t let her hurt Patty again.

As the knocking continued without ceasing, Anton reached the conclusion that no matter what would happen in the coming days, there was little doubt left in his mind that Patty may be stepping straight into a hornet’s nest. He wondered if she was prepared for what the coming days would bring. Margaret’s determination to win him back seemed to be without measure.

Trying his hardest to ignore the knocks, Anton switched off the light and closed his eyes as he sank down against the pillow.

What came next was something he did not expect or anticipate. Rather than hearing the continual knocks, he suddenly could hear what sounded like a loud crash followed by what could only be described as footfalls.

This somehow engulfed the darkened room and Anton opened his eyes slowly, half expecting to see the jilted ex-girlfriend standing over him. When no further sounds emerged, he finally spoke.

“Margaret, is that you?”

His question was met with silence. Instead of feeling spooked by something that could have been explained away as a cat knocking over a waste can, Anton once again leaned back against the pillow and closed his eyes.

Sleep would not easily come for the former Prisoner of War.


	11. Chapter 10

Patty walked into the lobby of the hotel the following morning. She had woken up early and decided that since she could not go back to sleep that she would try and find the man who helped her the night before. Perhaps this would grant her the opportunity to thank him for having shared his wisdom and insight when she needed to hear it the most.

The bright lights of the early morning shone through the lobby as she entered. Aside from the hotel employee seated at the receptionist’s desk, the room was otherwise empty. Instead of paying it any mind, she walked the length of the room and came over towards the counter.

The woman, who looked to be in her mid to late 50’s was seated there and as Patty approached, she raised her head. “Good morning.”

Patty nodded. “Hi.”

“How can I help you?”

“Uh, well, could you please tell me which room James is in?”

“I don’t know. Is that a first or a last name, honey?” The woman asked.

“I think it’s a first name,” Patty responded. “But, he’s not someone you’d easily miss. He’s got long gray hair and is dressed in renaissance style clothing. He told me last night that he was a historian, but he also said that he was an actor.”

“Well, we don’t usually check up on people’s careers around here, but give me a few minutes and I’ll check and see if he’s registered,” the woman said as she began to shuffle about with a small stack of papers. Upon closer observation, Patty recognized them as being duplicates of the form that she had filled out the night before.

When the woman had finally finished, she looked up, all the while shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but we have no one named James registered here. I checked both first and last names and there was nothing.”

“I don’t understand,” Patty whispered. “I mean last night he used the phone and even knew the name of your night clerk.”

“That might be and although I don’t doubt your sincerity, there’s no one here registered with that name,” the woman said.

“Are you absolutely certain?” Patty asked.

The woman nodded. “Yes, and I’ve been here since six o’clock this morning and I haven’t seen anyone come in or go out that even fits that description. I can ask the manager if you’d like, but I don’t think that’s going to help too much. I mean; it’s impossible to find someone we have no paperwork on.”

“That’s strange,” Patty mused, but extended her hand and pointed to a group of chairs at the other end of the room. “I was sitting over there talking to him for at least half an hour. He said he came from England and was talking about the things that happened to him around the turn of the century.”

The woman’s expression shifted and suddenly, she was regarding Patty through wide surprised eyes. “Did he say where specifically he was from?”

“Yeah, he said he came here from London,” Patty replied. “Does that help?”

“Perhaps more than you know,” the woman said with a nod of her head. “I think maybe you need to know a little bit about the history of this place. What I mean is; this house which contains the lobby and part of the hotel was built well over a century ago.”

Patty nodded as the woman continued. It was clear by the expression on the younger woman’s face that she had no idea where this conversation was heading. “You see, on one of the opening nights back in 1902, this building caught fire and many people died. Three years later, in September of 1905, this building, as well as others on this property, were restored and converted into the hotel that you now see.”

“You said opening night, was this place a theater?” Patty asked.

“Yes and they held live performances here, which happened every Friday and Saturday night, with a matinee on Sunday afternoons. If you look at some of the pictures that line the walls around this lobby, you’ll see some of the actors who performed in the theater. During the years leading up to prohibition, people started saying that they were having strange encounters with the spirits of those who had once been stage actors here. Many people believed that it was because of the effects of alcohol, but after Prohibition started, they suddenly had to accept that perhaps their assertions were not quite true. You see, many of the people who had witnessed strange occurrences here, had never consumed so much as a drop of alcohol.”

“But why would someone like that appear to me?” Patty asked.

“I can’t answer that,” the woman said shaking her head. “Maybe you should be asking yourself if an understanding of a person’s history would impact what decisions you are making right now.” In lieu of a response, Patty shrugged her shoulders.

Noticing this, the woman smiled before taking a deep breath and continuing. “I’m not sure if I’m explaining this very well, but given what you told me just now, the person you met last night, must have had a reason for coming and speaking to you in the first place.”

“Maybe, but this is all so strange.”

“But it makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does,” Patty confirmed.

“Well, you know; there have been many people who have stayed here and some have left believing that spirits may still roam these halls.” She smiled weakly as she shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not something that we would freely advertise, but you know anything’s possible.”

“But, I don’t really believe in that stuff,” Patty mused. “I mean; when I was little, I searched for monsters under the bed or told ghost stories with my sister, but this wasn’t for real.”

“Well honey, I’m not confirming or denying it. I’m just saying that the person you spoke with last night has, for all practical counts, disappeared. It doesn’t mean that you have to believe in anything, but I’m just saying that we have had a lot of strange occurrences around here and you may have had one of your own.”

Patty took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll keep what you said in mind, but I’m still not sure.”

The woman smiled, but instead began to once again thumb her way through the stacks of paper on the desk. “So, are you checking out today?” She asked.

“Yes, and once we get the car packed; my friend and I will return the keys.”

“You can either bring them here or you can just leave them on the dresser in your rooms. If you do that then the maid will collect them after you leave.”

Nodding, Patty backed away from the desk and started to make her way back over towards the door leading outside. En route to it, she stopped for a moment when one of the photographs that was on the wall caught her attention. Coming closer to it, she gasped when she recognized who it was of. “That’s not possible,” she muttered under her breath as she touched the pocket of her dress where James’ handkerchief still rested.

Still shaking her head in disbelief, she stepped outside and made her way towards the stairs. As she ascended them, she spotted Phil, who was coming down in the opposite direction.

“Hey, I just stopped by your room to see if you were there,” he said as a greeting. “I take it you had gone down to see if that fellow that you were talking to last night was still here.”

“I went to check, but he wasn’t,” she mumbled.

“Are you alright?” He asked. “You look a little pale.”

“I’ll tell you about what happened when we get on the road, I’d rather not talk about it here,” she said as she changed the direction she was going in and started to make her way back down the stairs.

When they reached the landing, they headed towards the diner for breakfast.

~~~~~

An hour later, they were driving in a northeastern direction and Patty was staring out the window. She wondered if she would be able to hold off telling Phil about the conversation with the woman back at the hotel or even the picture she had seen when she was leaving.

When he turned his head slightly towards her and spoke, she realized that she would have to tell him what she knew. “So, what happened to that fellow you talked to last night? You said back at the hotel that you’d tell me when we got on the road. Well, we’re on the road, so what happened?”

Patty took a deep breath as she turned and looked at him. “Phil, have you ever had an experience that you couldn’t explain?”

“I’m not sure I follow, but I think everyone has.”

“No, I mean something that you later realized couldn’t just be written off as an accident or mere coincidence,” she said.

“Does this have anything to do with the guy talked to?”

“Yes,” Patty took a deep breath and released it as a sigh.

“What happened exactly?” He asked. “I mean, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I may have.”

“Come again?”

“I went down to the lobby and wanted to ask the lady at the desk if she knew which room James was in,” Patty began. “She told that there was no one registered at the hotel under that name.”

“Maybe he left,” Phil offered. “A lot of people like to get on the road early.”

“No, it wasn’t that, she said that he wasn’t registered there, he didn’t have a room there at all. When I told her where he came from, she got really squeamish and said that maybe I had some kind of encounter.”

“You mean, maybe you did see a spirit?” He asked.

Patty nodded. “She said that there was a fire in the building back in 1902 and that a lot of people died; some of them actors. James said he was an actor, but I couldn’t really grasp the idea that I spent half an hour talking to a ghost.”

“Sometimes we have experiences in life that we would like to explain away; but we can’t. Patty, you have had some really amazing experiences in life. Let me ask you something though. Before I came to see you and tell you that Reiker…”

“…Anton, his name is Anton,” she interrupted.

“Alright,” he conceded. “Before I came to see you and tell you that Anton was alive, how did you react to the notion of him being present with you? What I mean is; did you ever try to pretend him to you as a sort of comfort?”

“Yeah, I did, a lot of times,” she said. “I would remember days when something amusing would happen. I would be sitting there enjoying myself and right in the middle of it; I’d stop and ask myself, ‘why are you laughing?’ I would stop laughing and instead of staying in that crowd, I’d go off alone and try and find some sort of answer to that question. Sometimes I tried to imagine Anton standing there and talking to me even though I knew consciously that he wasn’t even present. But, Phil, James was there, he was seated right across from me, and he even gave me his handkerchief.” She patted her pocket as if to emphasize that point. What she did not expect was for the pocket to be flat. Confused, she stuck her hand inside and gasped.

“What is it?” Phil asked.

“The handkerchief is gone,” Patty whispered. “I put it in this pocket last night after I left the lobby and I felt it this morning when I was looking at the portrait, but it’s not there. It couldn’t have just disappeared…could it?”

“What did the woman at the desk tell you?” Phil asked.

“She said that some of the guests have reported strange things happening there, but that it was not wise for them to advertise that the place might be haunted.”

“Well, the place was pretty old, so maybe it was,” he responded.

Patty lowered her head. “You really believe that?”

“Given what happened last night, it’s not really imperative for me to believe it, maybe what’s really important is what you believe.”

Patty nodded. “Maybe, but where’s the handkerchief?”

Phil shook his head. “I don’t know, but you did have it last night. I saw it in your hand.”

~~~~~

At the very same moment Patty and Phil were speaking, Anton had opened his eyes to hear the sounds of someone knocking at his front door. He crawled out of bed and approaching the closet, he grabbed a robe, and put it on before making his way down the hallway to the front door.

It had been a long and rather sleepless night for him, and while he was grateful that morning had finally come, his immediate thought was that the person at his door was Margaret. She was no doubt still upset by his behavior the night before.

Rubbing his hands over his face, he peered through the hole at the top of the door and his eyes widened somewhat when he noticed that a stranger was standing on the other side. Taking a deep breath, he carefully unlocked the door and pulled it open.

“Yes, can I help you?” He asked.

“Are you Frederick Anton Reiker?” The stranger spoke, his voice soft.

“Yes,” he responded as he opened the door wider.

“My name is James and you don’t know me, but we spoke briefly last night,” the man said.


	12. Chapter 11

As these words washed over him, Anton felt his pulse quicken somewhat. There was something strange going on, but he was not sure what it was. In lieu of immediately speaking, he raised his head and his gaze met that of the man standing on his doorstep.

“Excuse me?” He eventually spoke, his throat now parched.

“I know that it may seem hard for you to believe, but we did speak briefly to one another last night,” James responded, but noticing that Anton’s face had lost even more color, he continued. “I don’t mean to frighten you by my presence, but it is of utmost importance that we speak.”

“Wait a minute, Patty told me last night that you were in Louisville, Kentucky. How is it possible that you’re here now? I mean; that’s at least 500 miles away.”

“Would you believe me, if I told you that I’m here because I drove all night?” James asked.

“I’m not so sure I would,” Anton responded, his expression now showing signs of disbelief about his strange visitor.

James offered a slight smile. “I can understand your misgivings, Anton, but would you at least be willing to hear me out?”

Sighing, Anton offered a resigned nod.

“Then perhaps it would be prudent for us to sit down. Would you mind if I come inside?”

Wordlessly, Anton backed slowly away from the door and allowed James access to his home. Once inside, the door was closed and the former Prisoner of War watched as his guest calmly made his way over to the sofa and sat down.

Anton followed suit and once he was comfortably seated across from his guest, James began to speak.

“This is quite a change from what you had back home, is it not?”

“Yes,” Anton responded. “But why would you ask me such a question?”

“The reason is, I know a great deal about you,” James responded. “I have known of you for a very long time.”

The younger man shrugged his shoulders noncommittally as he looked into the eyes of the man seated across from him. “Like what?”

“Well, I know that before you were forced to join the German army you were a medical student at the University of Göttingen. Your favorite writer is Ralph Waldo Emerson and you have read ‘The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail’ at least twenty times.”

“What else do you know?” Anton whispered feeling his agitation growing. Nervously, he clasped both of his hands together and waited for James to continue with his revelation.

“Well, let me see,” James mused as he brushed his fingertips over his chin before smoothing back the long gray hair that brushed lightly against his shoulders. “I remember when you were about seven-years-old, you came home from school and had the hopes of your mother being there and ready to give you her undivided attention. When you arrived however, the house was empty and for reasons that only your heart knew, you were disappointed that she was not there for you. You knew that she had not gone far, as there was food on the stove, but yet, you were still very sad.” He paused. “Do you remember?”

“Y-yes, she had gone to ask our neighbors if they had some parsley they could spare from their garden,” Anton said softly. “Did Patty tell you about that?”

“No, these are just things that I just know about you,” James responded. “Are you afraid?”

“Should I be?” Anton asked.

“No,” James replied. “That is not my intention.”

“Then what exactly is your intention?”

“It is really quite easy, I want to help you.”

“How can you help me?”

“By reminding you of the things that you may have forgotten,” James said softly. “In order for you to face the future, you must also be able to reflect upon the past.”

“The past is not really something I want to recall,” Anton mused. “It may seem cowardly, but talking about it is not going to help me.”

“I understand your aversion to discussing certain events,” James said gently. “But, one of the things you must do is to remember the events of November 12, 1944.”

Anton’s face abruptly went a shade whiter as James continued speaking. “You recall the events of that day, do you not?”

Anton swallowed. “Yes, I do.” He glanced skyward as his hand unconsciously touched his left shoulder.

“It was the night you were shot,” James said. “You had been running from the authorities during the first week of November. On the morning of the twelfth, you found yourself cornered just outside of Buffalo in a wooded campground.”

Instead of questioning his visitor’s knowledge of those horrible events, the younger man nodded. “I was trying to hide, but it was impossible. The light from the men’s flashlights were blinding me and the dogs barking were the most ferocious sounds I had ever heard in my life.”

“What happened next?” James asked.

“The sound of a gun firing pierced the air and suddenly I felt this unspeakable pain in my left shoulder. It was unbearable and at that moment, my body gave out and I hit the ground. I was trying all the while to apply the necessary pressure to the wound, but my dizziness was overwhelming and the voices of the men surrounded me. I closed my eyes but could suddenly hear a single person coming towards me. Seconds later, they stopped and as they stood directly over me, everything went black. I regained consciousness several hours later.”

“What did you see when you woke up?”

“I could tell by the ammonia in the air that I was in a hospital, but I couldn’t see anyone except a man who I thought was an orderly,” he whispered. “He was standing next to the bed and was looking down at me. He felt familiar even though I couldn’t really focus on him. My eyes were still trying during all that time to adjust to these new surroundings, but by the time the room had become clearer, the man was gone.”

“Did you ever see him again after that?”

“No, and by then the interrogators had come into the room and started demanding information from me. They wanted to know where I had been since escaping from the prisoner of war camp in Jenkinsville. They suspected that I had gone into hiding after my escape, but they were also determined to find out any details about me that they could.”

“So you told them,” James said and instead of it emerging as an inquiry, it came out as a statement of fact.

“I had to,” he whispered as an unconscious lump lodged itself in the back of his throat. “They knew that I had been helped and were quite insistent about getting a name. As soon as I said P.B.’s name, my heart felt as though it had shattered into a million pieces. Would she ever understand why I betrayed her?”

“She doesn’t feel betrayed, Anton she feels positively elated to know that you’re alive,” James said.

“But she doesn’t know what I did,” he said. “Or did they tell her?”

“No, they did not tell her anything, instead, they devastated her when they told her that you had died that night.”

“I know about that, Agent McFee mentioned it when we spoke yesterday,” Anton whispered. “Later, when I spoke with Patty, I had the impression that she had been through hell and back. Then just before we were disconnected, she told me that she loved me.”

“She does, with all her heart,” James said.

“How can she?” Anton whispered. “God forgive me for betraying the one person who helped me.”

“God does forgive you,” James said softly. “That’s why I’m here, to help you and her find your way back to each other.”

“Then that means; you really are some kind of ghost or spirit, right?” Anton whispered.

James waited several seconds and then offered a confirming nod. “Yes, I guess you could say that I’m something like that.”

“Then why am I not afraid?” Anton whispered.

“Because deep down inside, you know that I mean you no harm,” James responded in kind. “I was with you when you were shot and I saw everything that happened that night. I have been with you for a long time, Anton.”

“That’s…comforting…somehow,” Anton whispered as an abrupt knock suddenly pierced the air and he looked over at James. “Were you expecting anyone?”

“No,” James said with a shake of his head. “That’s your friend, Margaret. She wants to know why you are not at work today.”

Anton took a deep breath and glanced over towards the clock that was on top of the bookshelf. It read that it was fifteen minutes after ten in the morning, which on any given day would mean that he would have been at work.

He released a sigh before getting to his feet and approaching the door. Before opening it, he turned back around and looked at James. “How can I explain your presence?”

“I’ll tell her I’m your great uncle.”

Nodding, Anton turned back and opened the door.

Standing outside was Margaret and she was not happy. When she saw his disheveled state, she pushed her way past him and stormed into the apartment. “Alright Anton, where is she?”

“What do you mean, ‘she’?” Anton mumbled as Margaret made her way through the living room and headed in the direction of the bedroom.

“There’s a woman in here, isn’t there?”

“No, there isn’t, but I need to get dressed and…” Anton began, but before he could so much as continue, James had stood up.

“…Go get dressed, Anton; I’ll take care of this little situation.”

Instead of objecting to his guest’s request, Anton took this as his cue to leave the room.

As soon as he had disappeared into the bedroom and the door had closed behind him, James looked pointedly at Margaret. “You are quite possessive of my great nephew, are you not?”

“Anton’s your great nephew?” Margaret muttered under her breath.

“Yes, and it would seem that I showed up here just in time to save him from contending with the dangerous pitfalls of your jealousy.”

“Excuse me?”

“You are excused,” James said formally. “Now, is there a reason for you having come here, or are you simply trying to indoctrinate him on which people he is allowed to speak with or what decisions he makes?”

“Now wait a minute.”

Instead of pausing, James continued to speak, his voice firm, but delicate. “The way I see it, since my nephew is no longer your boyfriend, then perhaps this means that he no longer must answer to you.”

“Wait, I thought he was on his own here,” Margaret objected.

“I suppose you would prefer that as a single person is easier to control,” James said bluntly. “And while most of his family is still in Germany, he has several distant relations scattered around the United Kingdom as well as here in America,” James said. “The point is he is no longer dependent on you or your family for his well being and can now do the things that bring him the most joy and fulfillment.”

Margaret kept her gaze in the direction of where Anton had gone for several moments until the silence got the better of her and she turned back around and faced James. “What makes you so certain that you are an authority on what will make Anton happy? You dropped in on him from out of nowhere. You don’t even know him the way I do.”

“Perhaps, but tell me truthfully what makes you so certain that you can make him happy?” James’ response emerged automatically.

“I don’t have to think, I can ask him when he gets back in here,” she said firmly. “Besides, I don’t believe a word you say. Anton never mentioned having a great uncle living in America.”

“Well, my dear, did you ever think to ask him about his family?” James asked pointedly.

“Not really,” Margaret whispered, but she did not add that she had never really been keenly interested. “How can any of us know that you are who you say you are?”

At that moment, Anton had returned to the room and was buttoning up his shirt. Upon hearing Margaret’s last question, he looked at her and spoke, his voice laced in ironic undertones. “He doesn’t have to prove anything to you, Margaret; he is who he says he is.”

The woman took a deep breath. “You don’t actually believe his claims of being your uncle are true, do you Anton?”

“Actually, I do believe him. He’s not given me any reason to doubt his assertions,” Anton said. “Now, I think I said what needed to be said last night. I want you to go.”

“You can’t mean that,” Margaret whispered.

“I do mean it. You may not believe it, and you need convincing, but I have said it several times. We’re through, Margaret, please go,” Anton said softly as he went over to the door and opened it.

“You’ll change your mind,” she said crossly.

“No, I won’t, it’s over,” Anton said firmly. “The next time you come back to this apartment, I will be gone.”

“Gone?” She demanded as she stepped outside. “Gone to where?”

“That’s none of your concern,” he said simply as he closed the door.

~~~~~

As soon as she was gone, Anton took a deep breath. “Thank you for pretending to be my uncle,” he said as he came over to the sofa and seated himself next to James. It was evident that for the first time in a very long time, Anton was relieved and it showed in his grayish blue eyes.

“Anton, I am not permitted to lie to anyone here,” the spirit began. “Not even to protect you from the wrath of your jealous girlfriend.”

“My jealous ex-girlfriend,” Anton corrected him. “But, what do you mean?”

“The answer to your question is rather simple, I am, or was, your maternal grandfather’s brother. As you know, several of your mother’s relatives back in England were history professors at small colleges. They were not professors of the rank and status of your father and his family, but we held some notoriety nonetheless. I myself taught history for a while, but then my heart was won over by love of renaissance music and the theater. At around that same time, I fell in love, but upon losing the opportunity for romance, I left England and moved to America.”

“Where did you go?” Anton asked.

“I settled in Louisville, Kentucky, which is where I pursued acting,” he said. “Everything that I told you earlier was the truth.”

“So, are you a ghost or an angel?” Anton asked.

“I am only what you perceive me to be,” James said. “As I said, in life, I was your great uncle; my name was James Pleasanton. I was born in London in 1840 and grew up there. When I was in my mid 50’s, I left England and came to America. I lived in this country until the fire happened in 1902.”

“Is that what caused you to die?” Anton asked.

“Yes, it was during a performance when the theater caught fire. You see, back in those days, not every place had electrical lights. The theater was lit by torches; that is large rod shaped pieces of wood with sulfur and lime coated cloths wrapped around one end. During the performance, one of them had gotten knocked over and the wooden stage had caught fire. I was standing center stage performing a monologue from ‘Hamlet’ when it happened.”

“That’s terrible,” Anton whispered. “But, why didn’t you show yourself to me before now?”

“Because it took a great deal of time for me to understand what had happened that night. How could I approach you or try to see life through your eyes when I could not even understand my own existence?” He asked.

“That’s a good question.”

“Yes,” James said with a nod.

“So I guess that means that you understand your existence now, right?” Anton asked.

James nodded as he reached over and rested his hand on top of his nephew’s. “I do now, and I want to help you avoid the same mistakes that I made in my life.”

“You mean, with P.B.?” Anton asked.

“Yes.”

“Will she forgive me for having betrayed her?” Anton asked softly. “I don’t know if I can look her in the eyes without remembering what it is I have done.”

“Whether you believe it or not, Patty still loves you and I believe that she will understand,” James said.

“I hope you’re right,” Anton whispered. “I want to see her as soon as possible. Is there a way that we can meet them halfway?”

“Is that what you want to do?” James asked.

Anton nodded. “Yes, do you have a car?”

James dug in his pocket, fished out a set of car keys, and held them up. “I guess you really do believe that I did drive all night to get here?”

Anton nodded as he started to get up, but James kept his hand atop his. When the spirit did not move his hand, the younger man started to object. “I was just going to my room to pack my bags so I can leave.”

“You cannot go alone, Anton,” James said gently. “If you leave by yourself, you wouldn’t know where to go. There are many roads that lead to Louisville, but there is only one that is right.”

“What are you saying?” Anton asked.

“I’m saying; I must go with you.”


	13. Chapter 12

By the time Phil and Patty stopped off for lunch, they had crossed the Kentucky state line, passed through the southeastern corner of Indiana, and found themselves in southern Ohio. The sun was high in the sky with a few clouds drifting by now and again when Phil stopped off at a roadside café just outside of Cincinnati.

It was a beautiful area filled with lush green trees and flowers which momentarily reminded Patty of Jenkinsville. Breathing deeply, she silently got out of the car, closed the door, and looked around before following Phil inside.

As the wooden door closed behind them, a waitress in a gingham style dress greeted them as they came in. “Hello, two for lunch?”

Phil nodded and once she had led them to a table, Patty could not help but notice that the woman did not speak in the same southern dialect that she was so accustomed to hearing. In fact, her manner of speech reminded Patty of something she had seen in a movie back home.

Perhaps the reason she was thinking about movies was that the café seemed to be decorated in a Hollywood style fashion. The floor was dark blue in color with gold stars scattered across the tiled surface. Along one side of the room, there was a series of glass windows, which offered a picturesque view of the parking lot. The other two walls were covered from floor to ceiling with collages of movie posters.

As they reached a corner booth, Patty continued to take in the details of the place. One of which was a poster from the film ‘Casablanca’ with smaller placards surrounding it in a butterfly effect. As she sat down beneath the small group of posters, she took in the table, which had a sparkly light blue top with metallic wavy silver colored edging along the sides. The two booths where they were now seated were covered with a similar style plastic coating which matched the table and gave off a more modern and less homelike impression.

“Well, Toto, it looks like we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Patty muttered as she watched Phil reaching for one of the fold-out menus that was placed on a rack in the center of the table. Once he had it, he laid it on the table and began to shimmy his way out of his jacket.

“Excuse me?” He asked as soon as it was discarded and he reached for and opened the menu.

“It’s just a saying,” Patty whispered. “The thing is; I’ve never really seen a place like this before. I mean; sure, I’ve seen fancier places, but mostly when I visited my grandmother in Memphis. You have to admit; the Victory Café back home isn’t even remotely like this.”

“I should hope not,” Phil muttered. “I still can’t get the ghastly taste of their coffee out of my mouth.”

“Was it that bad?” Patty asked.

“Well, let’s just say the coffee there wouldn’t have won the ‘Taster’s Choice’ best coffee award,” he said. “Sometimes it was too strong and bitter, other times it was watery, and there were those rare moments when I could have sworn they had added vinegar to it. The thing is; they never really could get it just right.”

Patty cringed. “If it was like vinegar, you must have caught them the day they cleaned out the pot.”

“Possible,” he said as his gaze shifted to the menu.

For her part, Patty started to casually glance around the room. “You know what’s strange about this place? It’s the only diner where they have movie posters hanging? I’ve never seen posters like these in a place that wasn’t a movie house.”

“A lot of people say that when they come in here,” the waitress said as she approached the table. With a pencil, she motioned towards the menu still in Phil’s hand. “We got a chicken and dumpling special today with a drink that costs 75 cents or meatloaf with a tossed salad, drink and dessert for a dollar.”

“That sounds good, I’ll have the meatloaf,” Phil said as he returned the menu to the small rack on the center of the table. “I’d like a regular soda with that.”

The woman nodded and scribbled down the order on a pad of paper before looking at Patty, who returned the unopened menu and ordered the chicken and dumplings and orange soda.

Once the waitress was gone, she looked at Phil. “How far do you think we’ll get today?” She asked.

“Well, we made pretty good timing from Louisville, so if we continue at this pace, we might get a few miles shy of Cleveland by tonight, but that’s being really generous. Cleveland’s still a long way off. I may have overestimated it last night when we were talking about it.”

“I wish we could be in Buffalo right now,” she whispered.

“I know,” he said sympathetically as he reached across the table and touched her hand. When she raised her head, Phil immediately noticed a stray tear escaping from beneath one of her eyes. “What’s wrong, Patty?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“How do you mean?”

“I can’t explain it,” she mused. “I just get the feeling that something is not right.”

“Does this have anything to do with what we talked about in the car?” Phil asked. “Specifically, what you told me about last night.”

Patty nodded. “In a way.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.

“Well, it’s just what I told you earlier about James and what happened back in Louisville. I just have too many questions and to few answers.”

“Such as?”

“Well, if James really was my friend, then why didn’t he show up again?” She asked. Before he could respond, she continued. “I know it seems strange for me to wonder about these things, but I can’t shake this feeling that no one really believed me when I said that he was there last night.”

“Maybe he had an emergency that just couldn’t wait,” Phil offered.

“That would have been a viable excuse, but the woman at the desk said that he wasn’t even registered at the hotel last night,” Patty argued as the waitress returned with their drinks and placed them on the table before leaving again.

“You know, when I was a kid, there was a hotel adjacent to the neighborhood where I grew up, and a lot of the locals used to hang out there. That is; they would go into the lobby and order sandwiches and salads from the hotel restaurant.”

Patty nodded. “You think that maybe he was just a local who was hanging out there?”

“It could be, or it could be that local legends have their way of empowering the people who might be passing through,” Phil said. As he watched her fiddling with the straw that was sticking out of her drink, he took a deep breath and spoke. “But, you don’t believe that, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Patty said but offered a noncommittal shrug of her shoulders. “When the lady at the hotel told me about the actors who perished in the fire in 1902, I started asking myself if James had been a figment of my imagination. But, then she mentioned that they had hung several photographs of the actors around the room. They were not as decorated as the posters here, but they were in silver and gold colored frames and they looked as though they had been preserved over time.”

“It’s rather unusual what people will do in order to preserve aspects of their history,” he said.

“Yeah, I know, but after that, I started looking at the pictures a bit more closely. That was when I noticed something familiar about one of the pictures. It was of James and his appearance was exactly the same as it was when he was sitting in the lobby talking to me last night.”

“Are you certain?” Phil asked.

“I’m positive” Patty said.

“You could be mistaken, you know.”

“Maybe, but consider this, I’ve done my share of reporting, and I do pay attention to detail,” Patty insisted. “There was no difference between the James that I saw last night and the person in the portrait I saw this morning. Of course, this was only magnified by the lady at the desk telling me that the place was haunted.”

As she was speaking, the waitress came over to where they were seated with Phil’s salad. “You didn’t have anything weird happen since you came in here, did you?” She asked as she placed the plate in front of him and then put a third drinking glass in the center of the table with the two sets of utensils sticking out.

“No,” Phil said. “Why do you ask?”

“Haunted houses are a big thing around here,” she said shrugging her shoulders. “Sometimes people just like to tell scary stories and frighten each other.”

“Interesting,” Phil said smirking.

“Well, just so you know, I’m not one who goes around eavesdropping, but based on what I did overhear, I thought that maybe you’d been to the 20th Century Theater. It’s not too far from here, but it gets a lot of attention because of the sometimes spooky goings on,” she said.

“No, actually, the place we’re talking about was a hotel back in Louisville Kentucky,” Phil said. “We’re just passing through actually; we’re on our way to Buffalo.”

“Oh, then the local haunts are of no interest to you then,” she said. “Oh well, sorry for interrupting.”

“It’s no trouble,” Phil said. “But since you’re here, would you mind telling us why it is you seem to know so much about ghosts and spirits?”

The waitress shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know that much, I just know that one of my friends is fascinated by it. See, he sort of describes himself as an amateur ghost chaser. That basically means that I get to go out with him when he gets a tip that there might be a ghost somewhere. So we pack up and go to various places around town looking to see if we can communicate with someone from the other side.”

“Sounds like a fun hobby,” Patty mused.

“I guess, it’s sort of fun if you like the mysterious and unknown,” she said.

“Have you ever seen anything?” Phil asked. “A ghost, I mean?”

“Not really,” she said. “I’ve gotten scared when we’ve been checking a haunt, but no, I haven’t. I guess the thing with ghosts is that I know they’re here because they have some unfinished business to take care of. Once they do that, then they can go to heaven,” the waitress said, her next words addressing Phil. “Oh well, enjoy the salad. I’ll have your food out in a few minutes.”

As soon as she was gone, Patty looked down at the table top as Phil reached for a set of utensils. “Patty, is the prospect of the hotel back in Louisville being haunted the reason why you wanted to get out of there so quickly?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “I guess I was a little bit apprehensive about the possibility that I had angered James and that was why he didn’t want to talk to me again.”

“He sounded like someone who wouldn’t be quick to anger, though. In fact, based on what you told me about him, maybe you and Anton were his real reason for sticking around,” Phil said. “I mean; think about it. If he wasn’t able to convince you last night to call Anton back, you would have probably convinced me to drive you to Memphis and never gave yourself the chance to find out what happened six years ago. If James is what you suspect, then I would venture a guess that he is a good sort of spirit.”

“I had that feeling about him when we spoke last night, but I just don’t understand why he left so abruptly and…” Her voice trailed off.

“…And?” Phil asked.

“And why he didn’t say ‘good-bye’. I mean; isn’t that what friends do when they know they’re leaving?”

“After a short visit, you consider him a friend?” Phil mused.

“Yeah, because he listened to me and understood what I was feeling,” she responded in kind.

“And I couldn’t, is that it?”

“Don’t get me wrong, you’ve been a good friend, but you have no idea how I’m feeling right now. I-I mean; I know that you care, because you’re here and stuff, but you really have no idea what I’ve been through. You can’t know simply because you never experienced it. James knew what I was feeling and he was able to put those thoughts and emotions into words.”

“In other words, he touched you,” Phil affirmed.

“Touched?” Patty’s eyes suddenly widened as she raised her right hand and rested it on her left shoulder. “He did touch me…” As her words drifted off, she moved her hand until her fingertips brushed against her lips.

“He touched you, physically or emotionally?”

“Both, at one point during our conversation, he reached over and rested his hand on my shoulder,” she said softly. “I never knew ghosts could touch another person, I always thought that they were…I don’t know, not able to do that.”

“Does it bother you?” Phil asked.

“No, but it just adds to the mystery. I mean; if he was a ghost, then why me? Why would he be interested in me?”

“Why would he not be?” Before she could respond, he continued speaking. “Patty, you did something six years ago that any normal person would be amazed by. If there is any justice or mercy left in this world, then I think it would have to be compassion towards you. I don’t know a single person who has suffered and endured the pain that you have during these past six years. Maybe there’s someone else out there who has made the very same observation as I have.”

“I just did what I had to do,” she whispered.

“Maybe that’s why they continue to watch over you.”

“Why didn’t they come sooner?” She asked. “They could have come at any time in the past six years. I mean; it was then when I needed someone because all this time, I thought Anton was dead.”

“Maybe they assumed that you were strong enough to deal with this on your own and were simply waiting for the moment when they knew that you would really need them. Didn’t you ever hear the saying, ‘God has perfect timing’?”

Patty lowered her head. “I don’t know, Phil, I just know that I was scared last night and James somehow helped me to not be afraid. I mean; he was really nice to me, but it really hurt this morning when I found out he was gone. I never got to thank him for helping me. He just disappeared. If there is someone out there who is watching over me, why can’t they stay and at least let me say ‘thank you’?”

“You feel abandoned all over again, don’t you?”

Patty nodded. “It’s stupid.”

“No it’s not,” Phil laid down his fork and reached across the table and took her hand. “You have been through hell and back, some of that is my fault and I recognize it for what it is. But, Patty, not every person who becomes your friend is going to abandon you. They’re not going to walk away and leave you when you need them the most.”

“But, they did,” she whispered as she pulled her hand out of his and rested it against her forehead as she allowed the tears to stream down her cheeks. “He was gone, Phil, just like Anton was gone.”

“Maybe this really isn’t about James at all, is it?” He asked gently. “He’s just a reminder to you of what it must have felt like when Anton left you.”

Patty closed her eyes, but after several seconds, she offered a defeated nod. “Anton said we’d always be friends, but when I thought he was dead, I felt so alone and no one cared.”

“Your friend Ruth did,” he reminded her gently.

“You knew about her?”

“Yes, she was the one person who came to see you when you were in the boarding school,” Phil said softly. “You didn’t know this, but I did keep an eye on you after the trial. Not a close one, but I was basically following what you were doing.”

“Why?” She asked.

“Because I felt badly about what I had done to you,” he said softly. “I know that it was my job to do what I did, but that doesn’t always make it right.”

Patty nodded, but instead of raising her head, she kept it lowered. Because of this, she failed to notice that Phil had gotten up, rounded the table, and seated himself next to her. When she felt his presence beside her, she raised her head and suddenly felt his arm wrapping around her shoulder and pulling her gently into his embrace. As she felt the softness of his shirt beneath her cheek, the tears continued to slide down her face and land against it. As Phil felt even more tears dampening his shirt, he began to gently stroke her exposed cheek and wipe the tears away.

In response to this, she raised one of her hands until she had gripped some of the fabric of his shirt. “I’m scared,” she whispered more to herself than to him. “I’ve never been so scared.”

“That’s part of what taking a chance is about,” Phil said wisely. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before taking a deep breath and continuing. “None of us even know what’s around the next corner, and I know that it’s scary to think about it. But, what I do know is that you’re not alone in this.”

“It feels like I am sometimes,” she whispered.

“I know, but I did ask if we could be friends, and no matter what happens, you have my solemn vow that I will not turn my back on you. Now, if it turns out that there is nothing for you in Buffalo, then I will take you to Memphis or anywhere else you want to go, within reason of course.” He smiled at her. “I do have to be back at work in a week.”

Patty backed away from him. “I’m sorry for being such a mess.”

“It’s okay, you have a lot on your mind,” he said gently as the waitress brought over two plates of food and placed them on the table. “Why don’t we eat something and then we can get back on the road?”

She nodded and reached for the utensils while he returned to his seat.


	14. Chapter 13

While Patty and Phil were having lunch, James and Anton had left Buffalo and were driving south. There had been very little said since the two of them had left the apartment. In fact, much to Anton’s relief, Margaret had left the complex and was nowhere to be seen. This gave them the solace they needed to pack up the car and get out of the area.

Once James had driven out of the apartment complex parking lot, Anton grew silent as he began to stare outside the passenger side window. Out of respect for his nephew’s space; James kept his thoughts and observations to himself. This, he managed to do so for about two hours.

After a time, however, his attention would periodically shift over to his right, all the while keeping his attention squarely on the highway they were following. Eventually, James realized that even for him, this particular level of silence had become deafening. If Anton had no problems with his presence, he was doing everything he could to drown it out.

“Do you mind if I play the radio?” James eventually asked.

“No,” Anton whispered, his gaze still fixed on the passing scenery. Overhead, the sky had gone from light blue to overcast as the sounds of Glen Miller replaced the quiet that consumed the car.

Once he had adjusted the volume, James began to tap out the song’s rhythm on the steering wheel. When Anton did not respond to this, he eventually stopped what he was doing before clearing his throat.

“Would you mind if I made an observation?” He asked.

Anton turned away from the window and looked at his great uncle. “No,” he responded, his voice barely above a whisper. “What is it?”

Instead of shouting over the music, James lowered the volume and the music faded somewhat. Returning his free hand to the steering wheel, he took a deep breath. “I was just wondering how it was that you could end up dating a woman like the one who paid you a visit this morning.”

“It’s a long story,” Anton responded with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He hoped that his response would put off James’ inquiries, but much to his disappointment, it did not.

“I think we have time,” James responded almost automatically. “We will be on the road for at least four more hours today, not counting lunch.”

“Do you really want to know how I met her?” Anton asked skeptically.

“Only if you want to tell me,” the older man responded. “Perhaps it might clear up why it is I had my reservations about your ability to judge a woman’s character.”

“It really does seem like that, doesn’t it?” Anton remarked; sadness etched in his words. “I suppose that means I would have to start by telling what led up to our initial meeting. During the early part of ’45, several months before the official end of the war, I was living in a prisoner of war camp just south of Buffalo. The camp itself was not as large as the Jenkinsville facility, and if truth be known, I probably would have been better off just staying in Arkansas.”

“Was it really that bad?” James asked.

Anton nodded. “Yes, there were about thirty of us bunking down in what looked to be a drafty old cellar. The rumors that circulated about the place were that the facilities had been used during the early twenties as an isolation room for unruly mental patients. I am not sure how accurate that rumor was, but I am pretty certain that given how the sleeping conditions were, it could very well have been true.”

“Was meeting her just a way for you to get out?” James asked.

“In a way, but that would be getting ahead of my story.”

“I’m sorry, please continue.”

“We were confined to the cellar as well as a run down dining area. During the day, instead of picking cotton, we were expected to do odd jobs around town. There was little farming to be done in that area, so we were sent to do janitorial work for some of the companies that were situated in the city’s high-rise buildings. Many of these businesses had arranged with the camp to have prisoners do the work instead of hiring people to do it. It was cheap labor for them and instead of paying us; they would simply pay our food or lodging. It was lucrative for them, but it was through that sort of situation that I came to meet Margaret the very first time.”

James turned away from the road momentarily to give Anton a puzzled look. “That young lady does not come across as someone who would have dated a janitor.”

“Probably not,” Anton replied. “I don’t know why she took a liking to me, but that’s what happened. The day we met, I had been told to empty waste cans, clean bathrooms, and tidy up the employee kitchen. It was perhaps not as appealing as the cotton picking had been, but it was at least a way to get out of the cellar and breathe something besides mold and dirty socks.”

He paused and after several moments took a deep breath and continued. “It was a Saturday morning, and I had been sent there with two other men, neither of them could speak English and so I was told to act as translator. It was the same sort of situation as it had been when a group of us had been in Jenkinsville trying on field hats. Anyway, during that particular day, the two of them were told to start at one end of the corridor and I was instructed to start at the other. We had to work our way inward, all of us working the rooms to our immediate right. That meant they would do one side and I would do the other. That’s how it was for the next three hours. I didn’t mind too much, I was left on my own and didn’t have to worry about senseless discussions to keep me company.”

“Is that the reason you have been so silent here?” James asked.

“I suppose so. I never was really into idle conversation. I would generally spend my time thinking and reading,” Anton responded. “I suppose in hindsight, it must have been strange for them to have left me on my own for such a long duration of time. Of course, I was up on the twelfth floor and there existed very little chance of me trying to escape. After the guard escorted us into this room, we found ourselves face to face with a tall, thin man wearing a suit and tie and holding a clipboard. In a no-nonsense sort of voice, he gave us our tasks and then we were told to ‘get busy’. This man was Margaret’s uncle.”

“What was he like?”

“On the surface, I’d say he looked alright, but we quickly discovered that he was not all that kind,” Anton said. “In some instances, we would find ourselves being dehumanized by him. He would slap us on our rears and then laugh about how we were slow like mules. He took his role of boss very seriously and watched just about every move we made. If something as simple as a pencil went missing from one of the desks, instead of looking for it on the ground, he would call us ‘Nazi thieves’ and report us to the leaders of the camp.”

“It’s no wonder you did not want to stay in Buffalo,” James said softly.

The younger man nodded. “I was just trying to do whatever I could to survive. If that meant, not speaking, then that was what I did. On the night that I met Margaret, I had entered one of the offices to clean out the wastebasket. When I saw her seated at the desk, I was tempted to turn around right around and leave. As I was about to do just that, she raised her head from the book she was reading and spotted me. Tossing the book aside, she smiled at me, all the while draping her arm casually over one side of the chair.”

“Did she say anything to you?”

Anton nodded. “Yes, but by that time I was already halfway outside the room, she had picked up the waste can and looked at me. ‘Is this what you’re looking for?’ She asked me and I came over and took the object from her and went to discard the garbage. A few seconds later, I returned to the room and put the object back on the floor next to the desk. Without saying a word, I made my way back over towards the door when she spoke again. ‘You don’t have to go,’ she said to me.

“I stopped dead in my tracks and turned back around to face her. It was then when I got a look at her. She looked relatively harmless; but since I did not know her, I decided to proceed with caution. Learning to trust Patty was hard enough, but this wasn’t a young girl, this was a woman, and I had no way of knowing what her motives were.”

“Did you at least say something to her?”

“Not at first, because we were told to not to,” Anton said. “If anyone had seen me talking to her, then their suspicions would have been roused. Before leaving the camp, the warden had threatened us saying that if he found out we were speaking with civilians; they would put us in solitary confinement until the end of the war. We had to obey, and with that looming over my head, I was too afraid to converse with anyone, especially a woman.”

“So you didn’t say anything?”

“Not at first,” he said. “I thought it was a trick to tempt me or get me into trouble, so I said nothing.”

“Then what happened?”

“Instead of leaving me be, she came over and touched my shoulder. When I backed away from her, she smiled at me and said ‘if you don’t want to get into trouble with my uncle, you won’t do that again’.”

“That sounds a bit intrusive,” James said.

“It was, but fearing that I would get into trouble, I relented and she moved her hands so that she could touch my face. Moments later, her uncle came into the room and asked her what she was doing. She turned away from me and looked at him. ‘I like this one,’ was all she said, all the while not even knowing that I could speak English. Perhaps her uncle thought that she knew, but the longer I stood there, the more obvious it became to me that she didn’t. At any rate, after several moments had passed, he made this strange comment stating that he liked the fact that I was a bit more passive than the other guys that his niece had taken a liking to.”

“Sounds rather embarrassing,” James said.

“It was, but several months later, the war had ended and he had assisted me after I had left the camp.”

“How did he assist you?”

“He gave me a job and they set me up with a place to live. He said that it was either that or be sent back to Germany in a worn down old boat with the rest of the prisoners. It was a rather lose-lose situation. This way I had an apartment and a job.”

“So that’s why you stayed as long as you did,” James mused.

“That’s why. The options were not that grand, but I thought maybe I could save enough money to come back to my family having made something of my life,” Anton said.

“You had a chance to do that when the war ended, why didn’t you take it?” James wanted to know.

“Maybe I was thinking about Patty when the decision was made. I thought that one day I might be able to go back to Jenkinsville and see her.”

“You care for Patty a great deal, don’t you?”

“Yes, I did,” he said.

“Did, as in past tense?”

“I don’t know what my feelings for her are today. It feels like so much time has passed, too much time,” he said. “She and I have both changed during the past six years. Now she’s eighteen and I’m in my late twenties. I look at myself and wonder what I have to offer someone like her.”

“She told you she loved you. It was when she was speaking with you on the phone,” James said.

“True, but maybe she loves a memory, and not the person I have become. The honest truth is I really don’t want either of us to get hurt again. The situation with Margaret was difficult. The longer we were together, the more possessive she became and I was left feeling very much like a puppet on a string. I’m not sure that I want to contend with that kind of relationship again.”

“Who said a relationship with Patricia Bergen would be?” James asked. “The question is, do you still care for her, Anton?”

“I have always felt protective of her. Back then I felt as though I was like a big brother to her. I had no idea that she would come out and tell me that she loved me, and do so with so much heartfelt honesty as well as sincerity. I thought that maybe it was because she had been rejected by her family, but I’m not completely sure anymore. When she said that she loved me last night, I was tempted to say, ‘but you don’t know me anymore’. I’m not the same person I was and I cannot pretend to have feelings for someone who has become a stranger to me.”

“That sounds honest, but she went out on a limb when she told you what her feelings were. Maybe she still feels these things,” James said honestly. “But, I must implore you to not brush off her feelings just because you are having second thoughts.”

“I’m not brushing her off; I just want to know if what we’re doing is the right thing.”

“What does your heart tell you?” James asked.

“To be honest, my brain is overriding everything my heart has been saying,” he said softly. “I know it’s not the response you were hoping for, but I live in the real world and if I meet Patty hoping for an instant attraction and then that does not happen, then what? Do we just decide to say good-bye by saying: ‘Have a nice day’ and move on with our lives?”

“Of course not, and I’m not saying that, but we are on our way to meet a young lady who not only saved your life, but who cares very deeply for you. It’s a giant risk for one so young to traverse a country to find out if love is even possible for them. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I know,” Anton whispered. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since we left Buffalo.”


	15. Chapter 14

The hours ticked quickly by and as they passed the mile marker noting fifty miles to Cleveland, Patty was yawning.

“Are you tired?” Phil asked, but quickly chastised himself for having asked something this obvious. He could tell just by looking at her that she was. Her eyes had drooped within the past hour until the silence had become their sole companion.

It had been a long day for both of them. After her outburst at the restaurant during lunch, it was apparent that she was emotionally drained.

“A little,” she admitted, but her attention abruptly shifted back to the passing scenery.

Phil nodded as he returned his attention to the traffic. In the distance, he could see the sun was beginning its descent beyond the trees that lined the highway. They had made surprisingly good timing, but he could tell that Patty’s anxiety about seeing Anton had mounted and he knew that while she had been impatient about getting there, she was also apprehensive.

Phil was absolutely certain that something had changed between Patty and Anton. This left him to conclude that there was no feasible way for them to simply take up where they had left off.

A pang of guilt enveloped him at that moment as he once again had to face the fact that he had inadvertently caused them both pain. He knew that once they arrived in Buffalo, he would be free to move on with his own life, finally without the strain of guilt that had dogged him for the last six years.

Was it enough that Patty would be reunified with Anton and his task would be complete? The FBI agent cast an uneasy glance towards her before refocusing his attention back on the highway. In the distance, he could see an exit sign as well as a hotel. This distracted him for the time being and he pointed. “We can stop there for the night,” he offered.

Patty raised her head and nodded, but no words emerged.

This left Phil returning to his contemplations. He was soon drawn back to the time when he was sitting in his office and John Pierce had barged in half a year earlier. He had been bragging about his latest promotion and how he had managed to manipulate things to meet with his career objectives. It was suddenly clear to the FBI agent that something about his current job situation was simply not right.

Sighing, he pulled into the hotel’s parking lot and watched as Patty started to get out of the car. “Should we take our stuff inside?” She eventually asked when he had not moved.

Phil shook his head. “No, it would probably not be a good idea. We have to make certain that we can get a room first. Given the number of cars parked around here, we may have a problem finding a vacancy.”

Patty nodded and simply reached for her purse before getting out and closing the door. She then started to make her way towards the door leading inside.

~~~~~

What neither of them noticed was that on the other side of the parking lot, a car had pulled in at the precise moment they had arrived and the occupants had disembarked. One of them actually managed to get inside just ahead of Patty and Phil and as they entered, they noticed that one of the men was standing at the counter just ahead of them.

When the person at the counter raised his head and saw three people waiting, he offered a hesitant smile as the man in the front of the line spoke. “Do you have any vacancies?” The man’s voice emerged somewhat accented, but Patty was simply too tired to take any notice of it. Instead, she remained a safe distance and waited. The only thing that she was interested in at that moment was getting them a couple of rooms and going straight to bed.

“Yes,” the man responded. “We have a room available. It’s five dollars for the night.”

“That’s great,” the young man said, “We’ll take it.”

The clerk nodded as he began to sort through some papers and produced a small form, which the man would have to fill out. Once he had handed the form to the man, they watched as he moved to one side and the clerk motioned towards Patty and Phil. “May I help you?”

“Yes,” Phil said. “We’d like to have a room for the night.”

“I’m sorry, but we have no more vacancies,” the clerk said apologetically. “There’s a large festival happening this week and just about every hotel room in the area is booked.”

“How much further would we have to drive to get to a place where we can get a room?” Patty asked.

“I’d say there are no vacancies within a twenty-five mile radius,” the man replied.

Upon hearing these words, Phil nodded. “Do you happen to have a map of the area?”

“There are maps and information in the brochure rack next to the stairwell,” the clerk said with a wave of his hand.

“I’ll go check and see if I can find a map with some hotel listings, why don’t you sit down over there? Once we have a map, then we can see how far we’d have to go to find a room.”

Patty nodded and watched as he made his way across the room and in the direction of the shelf containing area brochures. She backed away from the counter and went over to a group of chairs that were situated next to the door leading outside.

After several moments, Phil returned to her side and sat down with a map. This he spread across the table and began to make a route with his index finger. “I think our best option would be instead of driving into town and facing the same luck as here, we just drive in the direction of Buffalo. According to this, there are several hotels between here and the New York state border,” he said.

As they were speaking, the young man who had secured the last room finished filling out the form and found himself staring at the man and the young woman who were seated on the other side of the room.

He remained in this stance until the clerk called out his name. “Mr. Reiker, you are in room 201.”

Upon hearing this, Patty turned and watched as the clerk handed the man a key, which he accepted and started to walk back towards the door leading outside.

“Reiker?” She whispered as she started to get to her feet. “Phil, I’m going outside for some fresh air. I’ll meet you by the car.”

In response to this, the agent simply nodded.

Without hesitation she walked towards the door. As she came through the door and stepped outside, she suddenly stopped when she noticed that the young man had been joined by an older and quite familiar looking individual.

“Oh my God!” She whispered as the man stopped suddenly and turned around. His blue eyed gaze meeting hers, but only in passing. He turned away before rounding a corner and making his way in the direction of the parking lot.

Despite her conscience, which was telling her not to follow them, she did. When she rounded the corner, she could see that they were unloading one of the cars. Instead of approaching, she abruptly stopped and stared.

After several moments and sensing that someone was behind him, the elder of the two straightened out and turned around. His gaze suddenly locked with hers and it was at that moment when she could feel the fear lodging itself in the pit of her stomach. Inching still closer, she felt one of her hands coming to rest against her mouth as she discovered that she had not been mistaken. She knew him.

“James?” She whispered. As the soft utterance of his name drifted to the heavens, she watched as he started to walk towards her.

At that moment, the second man had stopped what he was doing as well and turned around. His eyes widened as he stared first at her, and then his companion. “This is not possible,” he whispered as he reached out and grabbed the shoulder of the older man. “Uncle James, t-that’s Patty. B-but, how did she know that we’d be here?”

“She didn’t know, Anton, I knew,” James responded in a rather mysterious tone of voice.

“How could you have known?” He asked. “The chances of this happening are one in a million.”

“Do you remember that I told you back at your flat that you needed me to come along?” James asked. “This is why you must never underestimate the powers that be. I am your uncle, but I was also sent here to help you find that young lady so that you may spare yourselves the pain that I endured for much of my life.”

“It’s really her then, isn’t it?” Anton whispered.

“Yes, it is,” James said gently. “Are you going to go to her now?”

“I don’t know,” he whispered. “How can I face her?”

“You must face her, for it is only through that that you will find peace,” James said gently. “It is also the only way that I can return home.”

“You mean; you really did come here to make certain that we would see each other again?” Anton asked softly.

He nodded, but rested his hand on Anton’s shoulder and offered it a comforting squeeze. “Wait here a moment,” the wise man said as he lowered his hand. Once Anton had nodded, he stepped closer to where Patty was now standing. “Patricia Ann Bergen,” he spoke her name, the soft cadence filling both her and Anton’s ears.

Raising her head, she nodded, but fearfully she started to back away from where his voice had originated. Instead, she stumbled as she felt her legs starting to give out and she sank to her knees.

From her place on the ground, she felt the panic gripping her. She looked up at him in the same manner as she had often done when her father was intending on beating her. These very same feelings were now returning and she cowered away from him. Her face, she buried against her lap and her trembling hands unconsciously wrapped around the back of her neck.

Instead of allowing her to be swallowed up in trepidation, he approached slowly and got down on his knees in front of her. With a gentle hand, he rested it against the top of her head. “No, dear heart, don’t be afraid,” he spoke. As his gentle words emerged, they carried that same essence that they had when they had spoken to one another at the hotel in Louisville. “I know that you’re frightened, but you have no reason to be. I came here to help you.”

“J-James?” She whispered as she slowly raised her head but began shaking it in denial. “Y-you’re here.”

He nodded as he reached out and gently took one of her hands in both of his and pressed them together. It was then that she realized that James was not like her father at all. He carried himself with honesty and compassion, and both of these emotions, although strange to her, were welcomed wholeheartedly. “You have endured terrible tragedy in your young life, Patricia, and you have overcome it. I am here to tell you that you will be rewarded for your kindness and gentle spirit. It is your destiny to be reunited with your friend, and I know that it frightens you, but it mustn’t.”

She raised her head and looked at him. “Are you a ghost? The lady at the hotel in Louisville said that you died.”

James nodded. “I told Anton this and I will tell you. I am only what you perceive me to be.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she whispered.

James reached over and touched her tearstained face. “It doesn’t have to, lass.”

Patty looked down at where one of his hands was still holding hers. Despite her instincts that were telling her to run away, she felt her fingers curling around the warmth of his hand. Noticing this, James smiled as he felt her hand holding tightly to his.

“You’re not afraid of me anymore?” He asked gently.

She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “No. I’m afraid for another reason.” She cast a wary glance towards where Anton was now standing, his stance still several feet away from them. “What if Anton doesn’t care anymore?”

“What if he does care?” James whispered. “You are afraid of rejection, but I too was afraid and I understand what it feels like to go through life not knowing. But look, he’s standing over there and waiting for you to decide if you are ready to face your future. To do that, it means that you must be willing to release your past. Are you ready to do that?”

She offered an insecure nod and watched as he got to his feet and then reached for her other hand. Hesitantly, she offered it and he helped her to her feet. “There is a great deal that you must know, but right now the important thing is that Anton is here and it is time for you to see and talk with him again.”

“Anton?” She managed to speak, but instead of keeping her head up, she lowered it and stared down at her feet. “But, James, I don’t know what to say.”

In lieu of a response, James released one of Patty’s hands and motioned towards his nephew to approach them.

Once Anton had reached where his uncle was standing, he reached over and touched where their hands were now joined. “P.B.?” He whispered, his simple word cracking with emotion.

Patty raised her head and when she made eye contact with him, she bit down on her lip and nodded. Once she managed to release her lower lip, she opened her mouth with the intention of speaking, but no words emerged from her. Instead a soft sob found its way to the surface.

Without contemplating what he was doing or why, Anton reached out and pulled her into his embrace and held tightly to her. “I’m here, Patty,” he whispered softly as he felt the tears catching in his own eyes. After several moments, they began to stream effortlessly down his cheeks. “I’m here.”

James nodded approvingly as his nephew cradled her gently in his arms. It was at that moment when he released her hands and watched as she wound her arms around Anton and held onto him.

They remained in each other’s arms for several moments, but only drew apart when James spoke again. “My time is spent, I must go.”

“Where will you go?” Patty whispered. She was not certain she was ready to be alone with Anton. She knew that there was a great deal that they still needed to discuss and she was fearful about that impending conversation.

“Home,” James said as he reached over and brushed a gentle hand through her tousled hair. “Have no fear, dear heart, you will be alright now.”

Anton reached out a hand and when he felt James’ hand accepting his, he nodded sadly. “Will we ever see you again?” He asked as he raised his head slightly and looked into the eyes of the spirit.

“You no longer require my assistance, Anton,” James said as he shook his head, but leaned over and whispered in his nephew’s ear. “I promise you I will dance at your wedding.” He motioned towards Patty and with no further words, he vanished.

Once the spirit of his uncle was gone, Anton looked around. “He’s gone,” he whispered as he looked back down at the young woman who was still wrapped in his arms. “Patty,” he whispered her name.

Upon hearing this, she raised her head and looked into the eyes of the man she had loved and lost so long ago. Now, he was standing before her and appeared to be bigger than life. She reached out and felt the contours of his face beneath her fingertips.

“You’re real,” she whispered, her voice broken and filled with awe. “How can this be? Anton, I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either, but I am not going to question or ponder how impossible this is,” he whispered as he took a deep breath as he turned back towards where James’ car had been parked. When he noticed that it was gone, he stared down at the suitcases that were now next to his feet.

“Where did he go?” She whispered. “I-I didn’t even get a chance to thank him for all that he’s done.”

“He already knows,” Anton said gently. “There’s a good deal that I need to tell you, not just about what happened during the past few days, but also about how I came to know James. What room are you in?”

“We’re not in any room, they turned us away,” Patty confessed.

“Then I’ll have to share my room with you. Maybe in exchange, you can give me a ride to wherever it is you’re going.”

“We were heading to Buffalo, but now that you’re here, that doesn’t seem to matter,” Patty whispered.

As these words emerged, Phil came outside and stopped short when he saw the two of them together. “This is impossible,” he muttered under his breath, but instead of approaching, all he was able to do was stare.


	16. Chapter 15

As time slowly ticked by, Phil was brought back to the present moment when someone approached where he was standing and rested their hand on his shoulder. “Excuse me, sir.”

He turned around and found himself looking into the eyes of the man who had been working the desk inside the hotel. “Yes?”

“We just had a last minute cancellation and I was wondering if you and your friend would be interested in the room.”

Phil nodded. “Of course, thank you.” Instead of approaching Patty and Anton, he decided to follow the clerk back inside, all the while shaking his head in profound disbelief.

Answers would have to come later, he thought as he paid for the room and filled out the necessary paperwork. All the while, he was constantly wondering what was happening outside.

~~~~~

At that moment, Patty and Anton had casually backed away from one another.

She took a deep breath and released it in the form of a sigh as she raised her hand with the intention of touching the lapel of his lightweight jacket. “This all seems so hard to believe,” she said as she felt the solidness of his shoulder beneath her hand.

“It’s real,” he said as he reached over and touched one side of her face. As he did this, she raised her other hand and pressed it firmly against where his now rested.

Closing her eyes, she began to take in what his nearness was doing to her. She knew at that moment that she still loved him and would do everything she could to stay with him. With this realization still lingering, she felt the tears streaming from beneath her eyes and meshing against his fingertips. “All this time, I thought you were dead,” she finally whispered.

“I know,” he responded in kind. “That’s what they wanted you to believe.”

“It wasn’t just ‘them’,” she said unhappily. “Why didn’t you ever contact me?”

“I was afraid to,” he said. “I figured that if I tried, your family would find out what you did for me. There were just too many risks involved.”

“What risks? They already knew and my father never let me live it down,” she mumbled as she lowered her head. When she felt his touch still against her cheek she inhaled slowly and continued speaking. “Three days ago, Phil showed up at my parents’ house right after I graduated from high school and told me that you were alive.”

“And you…”

“…I left home because I-I wanted to know the truth, even though I felt as though I must have been dreaming.”

Anton nodded as he lowered both of their hands from his face and felt his fingers wrapping gently around her, now trembling hand. “I survived, P.B., I’m here and I’m going to make things right, I promise.”

“The others made me believe that you were dead, and maybe I convinced myself of that too,” she whispered as she felt him pressing her hand between both of his. “But this is real, you’re real. This isn’t some sort of twisted fantasy.”

“No P.B., it’s not.” Anton watched as a shadow unconsciously crossed her face and her expression darkened. When she did not respond, he took a deep breath as his next question emerged. “What happened to you after I left?”

“You don’t want to know,” she whispered as she lowered her head.

“Yes I do,” he responded in kind. “Please, just tell me.”

Patty continued to shake her head as though trying to block out the memories that came with the months and years following his departure. Somewhere deep down inside, she felt shame about not only what had transpired, but also about the sort of person that she had become. The notion that he might be disappointed in her haunted her mind and made the answer far too painful for her. “It would take forever for me to tell you,” she finally whispered.

Anton took a deep breath. “Perhaps it would, but I do think that regardless of how much it pains both of us to hear it, we really do need to talk about it.”

Patty nodded sadly, but lowered her head as Phil approached where they were standing. “This is certainly a surprise,” he remarked as Anton managed to turn back around. Once he did, the agent continued speaking. “You’re actually here?”

“Yes,” Anton’s response emerged.

As the gazes of the two men locked, Phil offered an awkward smile and Anton nodded stiffly. Both of them watched as Patty raised her head and spoke. “Anton said that we could share his room if we give him a ride tomorrow.”

“Yes, that would be fine, but while I appreciate the offer, I just managed to secure a room,” Phil said.

“How?” Patty asked. “The guy told me a few moments ago that the hotel was booked solid.”

“I don’t know; he just came out and told me that they had a last minute cancellation. I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, I just took the room. I guess what needs to be decided now is where you’re going to sleep tonight, since they only had the one room available.”

The young woman nodded and started to back away from them. There was a strange feeling of awkwardness that had overtaken her and now she was left looking from Phil to Anton. It was on the younger of the two where her gaze idly lingered.

“You can stay with me,” Anton said softly. “Then we can talk about everything.”

Patty nodded as she started to walk over to the car and retrieve her belongings.

As the two men watched her actions, Anton looked at Phil. “She’s still very fragile, isn’t she?” He whispered.

“She’s been to hell and back. It’s been that way ever since she was twelve,” Phil said. “You should know that from a distance I tried to keep an eye on her after you left. It is like I told you on the phone the other day; she’s lost herself in all of this.”

Anton took a deep breath. “You really are trying to be a friend to her, but why?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Phil said. “Contrary to what you may be thinking, this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with my work. If it did, then I wouldn’t even be here.”

“How can I believe that?” Anton asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe in time you’ll just have to realize that it’s the truth.” He paused. “Please, Mr. Reiker, it’s been six years and I really am doing what I can to set things right. If I can help you and Patty, then maybe I can find some solace in all of this.”

“So in other words, all of this is about your conscience and nothing more,” Anton whispered.

Phil’s expression shifted and he regarded the younger man with traces of hostility. “Look, I will openly admit that this would do my conscience a world of good, but contrary to what you may be thinking, I do care about her. While I have made mistakes, I don’t need anyone to remind me of the severity of them.”

“You’ve changed,” Anton mused. “What happened?”

“I grew up,” Phil said simply. “I realized that there was more to life than merely trying to forge ahead with a career that makes a person miserable and brings undue harm to others. I guess I just stopped and realized that everything I have ever done is going to leave an impact. Figuring out if I can live with that has been rather like opening my own Pandora’s Box.”

“I find it hard to believe that you care enough about another person to do that, but here you are, getting involved in all of this,” Anton responded. “I suppose people can and do change.”

“Yes, but you did as well,” Phil said bluntly. “Even now, you don’t seem to realize the extent of love and adoration that that young lady holds for you. Just look at her. She has left her family and friends behind in order to pursue a fragile hope that you might still care about her. Looking at you now, I fear that she will end up rather devastated by what she discovers.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, she’s been hurt so many times; by you, me, her family. She threw her whole life to the wind in the hope that you might love her for the person that she has become. It takes a great deal of courage for someone to do that. Don’t you think?”

“I remember the other night on the phone, she said she loved me. I was so taken aback by her words that I couldn’t even think of what to say in response to them.”

“She does love you, and if what she has done does not define what ‘love’ is, then I don’t know what the heck the word means anymore.”

Anton nodded but continued to watch as Patty half carried half dragged her suitcase over to them. When she reached them, the agent’s next words emerged. “I think you should go to your room and get some rest. We can meet in the morning for breakfast, then you can decide where it is you want to go. Something tells me that driving to Buffalo seems rather pointless at the moment.”

Anton nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“Alright then, I guess I’ll see you both tomorrow,” Phil said as he started to walk away from them. “I’ll meet you in the hotel restaurant at, say nine o’clock?” When the two young people nodded, he continued speaking as he walked over to his car. “I’m in room 229 if you need anything.”

With that, Phil collected his belongings, locked the car, and walked away.

Once he had disappeared around a corner, Patty closed her eyes for a moment and then, still holding her belongings, she watched as Anton began to walk slowly in the same direction.

“Anton?” She called out to his retreating back, her simple word in the form of a question. When he did not initially stop, she found herself staring at his retreating back. Slowly, she picked up her luggage, but instead of walking, she stared, her eyes filled with that same insecurity that she displayed back when she was twelve.

Eventually, Anton stopped walking and started to retrace his steps. When he was once again in front of her, he stopped and spoke; his voice firm. “Did you want to share a room with him?”

“No,” she whispered as she took note of the overall tone of his voice. It emerged as though he was confronting her and this gave her a feeling as though she had made a mistake or done something wrong. I guess things really have changed after all, she thought gloomily.

Anton reached over and touched her arm. “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to sound like that.”

Patty lowered her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“But, it does,” he said simply. “Patty, I…”

“…Just forget it,” she interrupted. “It’s getting late; maybe we should just get some sleep.”

Anton took a deep breath and instead of speaking further, he merely nodded.

As they walked, he could not help but notice that she was walking with her head bowed and her shoulders slumped.

Seconds later, a familiar and assertive sounding voice emerged and filled both of their ears. “I had rather expected that you two would have resolved all of this by now.”

Patty froze, but stiffly, she managed to turn back around. “James? But, I-I thought you were gone.”

“I would be if you both had decided to cooperate,” he said as he waited for Anton to turn around and face him. “Instead you have fallen into the throws of bitterness and jealousy. I ask you, where does that leave things?”

“What do you mean?” Anton asked.

“I mean; you both need to talk to each other instead of at each other,” James said. “When I left earlier, I was convinced that you would both handle everything just fine on your own. Now I have been sent back to act as a grand negotiator. This is not what I expected, but then again, human nature seems to have destroyed everything that you have painstakingly built. So, first, let’s be honest, and when I say this, I mean, specifically that you must be honest, my dear nephew.”

“Nephew?” Patty whispered as she looked at Anton through wide eyes. She raised her hand and covered her mouth with it. “How is that even possible?”

“My dear, there are many things in this vast universe that are possible; that’s what human beings have started to dub as ‘miracles’. Sometimes things don’t just happen from a logical perspective, they happen because they’re meant to happen. There’s a reason for them to come about.” He smiled gently at her as his attention shifted and he regarded his nephew. “Now then, I think that it would be wise for you to tell her the truth. I know that it will not be easy, but it is absolutely crucial.”

Anton looked into the wise eyes of his uncle. “I don’t know what to say.”

“There are many situations in which you can begin, you must simply pick one,” James said. “You have a good heart and now you must follow it. This young lady recognized that when she chose to shelter you. Now look at her and see for yourself that the friend who helped you is still present. She may be a few years older than you remember, but that means you must look deeply into her eyes so that you may see it.”

As if by impulse, Patty closed her eyes and lowered her head.

“No, dear heart, you mustn’t do that. Let Anton see what lurks in the recesses of your spirit.” James went over and with both hands, took her face gently in his and tipped it up until she was looking at him. “I know you fear rejection, but that will not happen here. You are safe. No one is going to harm you; whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually.”

“He’s right,” Anton whispered as he wrapped her gently in his arms.

Despite her unwillingness to show the extent of her emotion, she began to weep softly and allowed her weight to collapse completely in Anton’s arms.

Nodding approvingly, James spoke as the first drops of rain began to fall. “Go inside, and talk to each other. If you need me, I’ll be nearby.”

Wordlessly, the two young people heeded this suggestion.


	17. Chapter 16

Moments later, they entered the room and Anton closed the door behind them. He then watched as Patty walked over to one of the double beds and dropped her belongings on it. Instead of taking off her lightweight jacket, she wrapped it more firmly around her body before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“It’s rather chilly in here, isn’t it?” He asked as he deposited his belongings on the second bed before turning on one of the lamps. “I guess they opened up the windows a bit too long when they aired out the room.”

She nodded but lowered her head and stared down at the worn carpet that covered the floor.

Seconds later, Anton came over to where she was sitting and sat down next to her. “I don’t really know what to say at the moment. I pondered just about everyday as to whether or not I would see you again.”

“It’s as big of a shock to me as it is to you,” she whispered more to herself than to him.

“I know,” he said with an affirming nod of his head. Slowly, he reached over and took her hand in his. “P.B., contrary to what you may be thinking, I never could forget you.”

“I have a hard time believing that,” she said as she carefully pulled her hand out of his hold, her gaze remaining on her lap.

“This is because of what happened when you tried to call me, isn’t it?” He asked; his voice laced in bitterness.

Patty closed her eyes as the unshed tears began to burn beneath the lids. She firmly bit down on her lip as she tried to keep him from seeing the extent of her emotion.

“P.B.,” he pleaded. “I know I hurt you and if I could change what happened then I would in a heartbeat. I am so deeply sorry.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his embrace. After several moments had passed, his next words emerged. “Please forgive me.”

As he felt the tenseness leaving her body, he suddenly felt her head coming to rest against his chest. Moments later, he could feel the moisture from her tears falling against his shirt. Gently, he brushed his hand against her exposed cheek. “Ich liebe dich,” he whispered softly.

Not understanding what he had just said, she raised her head slowly and looked into his eyes. “What does that mean?” She whispered.

He moved his hand slowly from her cheek and lightly touched her lips before tilting her face up until she was looking at him. “I think you already know,” he said as he allowed his lips to gently brush against hers. “You told me those same words the night I left you six years ago.”

As she tried to remember the words they had spoken all those years ago, she could feel herself drifting into these new sensations. “Does that mean you’re not engaged?”

“No, I’m not,” Anton said as he shook his head solemnly.

“There’s something that I still don’t understand,” Patty whispered. “Why did that woman tell me that you were?”

“That was partially my fault,” he confessed. “At one point, I believed that we might have gotten married, but that was before I realized that I really didn’t love her. There were moments when I felt confused and didn’t know what it was I really wanted and thought she was it, but she wasn’t. She never was, Patty. I may not have been a very truthful person, but I do know that I don’t deserve to live out my days under her control.” He shook his head. “Forgive me, Liebling.”

Patty nodded slowly, but instead of speaking, she listened as he continued.

“When Agent McFee called me and told me that you were both on your way to Buffalo, my heart skipped a beat. I suddenly understood what it meant to feel nervous, anxious, and apprehensive all at the same time. Of course, none of those feelings could conceal the fact that I felt immeasurably happy at the prospect of seeing you again. My heart sang for joy, not just about seeing you again and thanking you for helping me, but for also reminding me of what is in my heart and what I can now change.”

At that moment, Patty reached for his hand and when she felt it holding tightly to her own, she felt a soft smile tugging at her lips as he continued speaking.

“I made so many mistakes after I left you. I did things that I deeply regret, and yet I knew that I could not go back and change them. I can only hope and pray that you will forgive me for not being the man that I should have been.”

She wordlessly nodded as she brought his hand to her lips and ceremoniously kissed it.

“You may not be too terribly forgiving when I confess to you something that has weighed heavily on my conscience for the past six years,” he whispered. “Do you remember when we were sitting in the hideout and I told you that I considered myself to be an unbelievable coward?”

Patty nodded. “But, you weren’t. You ran out of hiding to protect me from my father. I remember as though it was yesterday.” Instinctively, she moved one of her hands to touch the side of her leg where the scars from her father’s beating still remained. Shamefully, she lowered her head.

Anton watched her actions and without thinking of what he was doing or why, he rested his hand gently atop her own. Moments slowly ticked by as he felt the guilt literally encasing him. “Patty, several months after I left, I ended up betraying you.”

“You did?” She whispered. “How?”

“I was on the run until around mid-November of ‘44. I had found my way to Buffalo and was doing whatever I could to avoid arrest. I was less than twenty miles from the Canadian border when I was shot. After it happened, I woke up in a hospital and there were agents present and waiting for me to come around. One of them was Phil McFee and he seemed more than ready to start with the interrogation. Once he had been given the allowance to, he came out and demanded to know where I had been holed up during the summer months,” Anton whispered. “I was determined not to tell him, but he said that if I didn’t, in his words, ‘spill the beans’, that it would only be harder on me. He continued to hassle me until I finally said your name. I didn’t want to, but he had gotten right up in my face and had threatened me if I didn’t come clean.”

Patty lowered her head, all the while not able to meet his heartbroken gaze. She remembered the months she spent in the reform school and how her life felt as though it had no meaning. All the time she had spent alone and living as an outcast suddenly came back with a vengeance. “What happened next?” She whispered.

Anton began to tell her everything that had happened during the past six years. He told her about his rehabilitation and his experiences at the prisoner of war camp outside of Buffalo. He spoke of how he met Margaret the first time and what had come about after the war had ended. Finally, he felt his energy giving out and he lowered his head. “Patty, I’m so sorry.”

As he had been speaking, her hand unconsciously fell away from his hold. She could feel the agonized tears now catching in her own eyes. He still had no idea what had happened to her during the past six years, but given the look that was now on her face, it was clear that she had not had it very easy at all.

“Will you tell me what happened to you?” He asked softly.

“My life felt like it was over after you left,” she whispered. “I kept the ring, and nothing could make me forget what had happened. I made up stories as a way to conceal the pain, but it didn’t stop. It never stopped until one day my made-up stories caught up with me.”

“Why did you make up stories?” He asked softly.

“Because sometimes stories are a lot easier to contend with than reality,” Patty whispered brokenly. “I was only twelve, but I was always alone. I needed something to make me feel special or important, because no matter what it was that you had told me, I knew that there was no one left who could have made me feel as valued as you did.”

“What about Ruth?” Anton whispered.

“My father fired her, and later forbade Sharon or me to have any contact with her,” Patty whispered. “He wanted me to grow up friendless and alone, and do you know what? That’s exactly what happened. If by some miracle I had a friend, then they would leave…just like you did. Then I found out about your ‘death’.”

“How did you find out?”

“It was the middle of November and I was woken up at around two in the morning. The door to my room suddenly burst open and my parents came in with Agent Pierce following closely behind them. I wasn’t exactly certain as to why Phil wasn’t present but I didn’t much care. My father started threatening me and saying that I’d better listen to whatever Agent Pierce had to say. So, I did, and that was when he pulled out the shirt and dropped it on the bed and began berating me. When I asked about the shirt and why there were bloodied holes on it, he pulled out a telegram and read that you had died. The world had ended at that moment, and I spat out one word: ‘Murderer!’ It was the only thing I could say. My heart was completely shattered.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said quietly as he reached for one of her hands. “What happened next?”

“Everything happened so fast,” she whispered, all the while shaking her head. “They filed a petition and I was put on trial, and later sent to reform school.”

“They put you on trial?” Anton asked softly. “But you were just a child.”

“It didn’t matter,” she whispered. “Some of the people wanted to try me for treason. That’s how it is in a small town; they were out for blood and my parents were the head of the mob. After I came back from reform school, my father did everything he could to make my life difficult and my mother simply ignored me. That’s the way it’s been ever since.”

Anton looked at her, his eyes filled with sadness. “In other words, what ultimately happened to you was my fault.”

Patty turned away, her expression unreadable. “It doesn’t matter, I mean; they would have found another reason to hate me anyway. They always have.”

“You speak indifferently about all of this, but I know beyond any doubt that all of this really hurts you,” he said softly. As if to add emphasis to his words, he reached up and touched her face, just beneath her eyes. Sure enough, there was moisture there.

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered.

“But, it does,” he whispered. “In so many ways it still matters.”

Instead of immediately responding, Patty turned away from him. Once she was looking away from him, her soft words emerged. “Once upon a time, I believed that I was important. Maybe it was because I had been a naïve little school girl who didn’t know any better.”

“You honestly don’t believe that, do you?” Anton asked. “I wanted you to always remember that you are important and that your life does have value, Patty.”

“What should I believe? You left, and whether you wish to acknowledge it or not, I’m not that inexperienced child anymore. I gave myself away when I got angry and hurt because of what I thought had been your fate. Should I be angry that you ultimately snitched on me? After all, that was your concern when you discovered my being Jewish. You can’t deny that.”

Anton took a deep breath. “I know I can’t, and I don’t.”

Patty lowered her head. “So what happens now?”

Taking a deep breath, the former prisoner of war looked into the eyes of the young woman. “I have to make things right, for both of us.”

“H-how?”

Anton took a deep breath and smiled weakly. “Do you remember what I told you the night I left?”

“You told me that…that I mattered,” she whispered.

“Yes, but I also told you that I love you and that in my own way I would miss you,” Anton said as he allowed his fingertips to stroke her face gently.

“Is that what you said earlier in German?” She asked softly.

“Ich liebe dich,” he said with a nod of his head. “Yes, that’s what I said.”

She reached over and touched his face, her fingers lightly touching his mouth. As she felt him lightly kissing her fingertips she suddenly felt the tears streaming from beneath her eyes. “I want to stay with you,” she whispered.

Anton nodded, but in lieu of words, he wrapped her gently in his arms and lowering his head, he captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

Unbeknownst to the two of them James had reappeared inside the room. When he saw them wrapped in one another’s arms, he nodded and disappeared.

They would be alright, he thought smiling. He could once more return to where he belonged.


	18. Epilogue

A Week Later

The ship that would be sailing to Paris had left right on schedule and Phil McFee was standing at the docks watching as it disappeared in the distance. The sun was setting behind him and as he stared off in the east, he could se the shadow of the ship as it sailed slowly away.

The agent’s eyes were filled with joy at the knowing that Patricia Ann Bergen and Frederick Anton Reiker were heading off to a new adventure. They would be alright now, he thought happily. They were now together.

Regardless of what would become of him or his career, the agent was now free. His conscience was no longer laced with guilt, but instead he could feel the indescribable joy filling him. A small slip of paper rested in the depths of his pocket and this would promise future contact with his two friends.

Things were exactly as they should be. There was not a single thing that Phil McFee would have changed.

The day after he and Patty had found Anton, they had met for breakfast and agreed to drive back in the direction of Buffalo so that Anton could retrieve the remainder of his belongings. They then headed to New York City, where Patty and Anton had obtained their passage to Europe.

It had been a busy few days and both Patty and Anton had the opportunity to speak extensively with Phil about everything that had happened during the past six years. It had been difficult sorting everything out with Anton, but eventually the two of them had found some common ground and the seeds of friendship had been planted.

Just prior to their departure, Patty sent a telegram back to her family and informed them that she was leaving the country and would not be returning to Jenkinsville.

As for Phil, this meant closure. The following morning he would drive back to D.C. and get on with the rest of his life.

Still smiling, he turned away from where he was standing only to see an older man standing next to him. The man was holding a cloth handkerchief in his hand and waving it in the direction of the ship.

“It’s lovely to see them head off on a new adventure,” the man remarked as he looked over at the agent.

Phil nodded. “Yes.”

“But, you will still miss them, won’t you?”

“Of course I will, even after saying good-bye, friends are still missed,” Phil said. “You were right about my doing this, James. I know that when you showed up at the agency and told me what I needed to do, that it was the right thing. I was needed, and even though I still questioned it, I listened.”

“You had nothing to lose,” James said smiling.

“I didn’t, and look at what I gained,” he said. “Throughout all of this, I wondered how I could have made a difference to Patty and Anton. It wasn’t until they came together that I realized that I did. I knew that they needed each other, I just didn’t realize that they might have needed me, too.”

“I knew they did, just as I knew from the start that you were not happy with the way everything had turned out. I merely came with the intention of reminding you that nothing is written in stone. The events in the world can often pose a great challenge, but they can be changed when one is willing to ask the right questions and make the right choices.”

Phil nodded as he extended his hand to James and smiled. “I’ll try to remember that. Thank you, for everything.”

James accepted his proffered hand, gave it a squeeze and smiled as he dropped the handkerchief into the agent’s hand. “Never forget that you made a difference here.”

Phil nodded and once James had disappeared, he looked down at the handkerchief that was now resting in his hand. On one corner a fancy letter ‘J’ was present. His eyes widened when he saw that meshed in the fabric were blotches of moisture.

Could this have been the same handkerchief that James had given to Patty? Had these been her tears?

Instead of contemplating any of this further, he folded the small piece of cloth and gently placed it in the pocket of his jacket. He then made his way back in the direction of his car.

As he got in and started the motor, the only thought going through his mind was: This chapter of my life has finally reached its end.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story took several years for me to write. The addition of James was a pretty easy decision to make since I love fantasy anyway. This character, while adding some essence of supernatural to the story was something that begged to be written here. After having written several 'Summer of my German Soldier' stories, I felt that this one, although laced in fantasy is as close to canon as I could get. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading it.


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